Minister of Employment and Labour Relation, Ignatius Baffour Awuah has revealed although the novel coronavirus has had a negative effect on labour across the country, Government has outlined measures to cushion the unemployment problems facing the citizenry.
According to him, job losses and pay-cuts have been identified as one of the most serious effects of the pandemic on labour.
Addressing Journalists in Accra, he said “Industry has reacted to the effects of the pandemic with a combination of measures, mainly pay cuts, lay-offs and running of shift. To cushion labour from the effects of future occurrences, government had decided to set up an unemployment fund with a view to supporting casualties of future pandemics within the labour sector”
He added the fund set up will be an avenue for retraining of workers whose skills might have been rendered redundant as a result of a similar occurrence in future stressing that the informal workers bore the heaviest brunt of the pandemic.
He emphasized that his Ministry is bent on ensuring decent work for all Ghanaians.
“Some workers in the informal sector were being shortchanged by their employers and cautioned employers engaged in such practices to desist forthwith” he revealed.
The Minister also explained that government is taking steps to ensure that workers within the informal sector who according to the survey represented 70% of the labour force are enrolled unto the state's pension schemes to reduce the levels of dependency within the society.
Story by: Rodney Tsenuokpor