By Kodjo Adams, GNA
Accra, July 31, GNA – The National Labour Commission (NLC) says 973 cases of unfair termination of employees’ contracts were recorded from 2020 to 2025.
It said 336 of the cases involved dismissals, 660 were issues of unpaid salaries, and 15 concern the non-payment of compensation.
Issues of redundancy pay and lay-offs had 142 reported cases; medical issues; nine, leave entitlement, sick leave, and maternity leave; 559 cases.
Dr Bernice A. Welbeck, the Executive Director of NLA, announced this during a stakeholder’s symposium in Accra on Thursday.
It was on the theme: “Two Decades of the Work of the NLC: Lessons, Experiences, Challenges and the Way Forward”.
She said an average number of 800,000 to 1,000,000 complainants per year cumulatively were reported to the Commission.
That included labour disputes and industrial disputes, which were collective in nature and most often resulted in a series of industrial actions, Dr Welbeck noted.
The Commission, she said, had been able to handle 13,113 reported cases between April 2005 and December 2025, of which 12,677 were settled and concluded.
Dr Welbeck said 317 cases were going through the initial process of resolution, while 119 were unprocessed due to lack of response.
“The Commission on a yearly basis grants an average compensation of between Ghc 800,000 and Ghc 1,200,000 to beneficiaries,” Dr Welbeck added.
“These exclude payments made directly to the beneficiaries and not through the Commission.”
Justice Kwabena Asuman-Adu (Rtd), the Immediate Past Chairman of NLC, expressed concerns over the failure of government officials to appear before the Commission.
The situation, he said, had made striking unions accuse the chair of “being in bed” with the government.
Justice Asuman-Adu urged employers to be abreast of the tenets of the Labour Act, since most of them had limited knowledge about it.
He encouraged employers to recruit qualified human resource practitioners to assist the various organisations in taking better decisions that would not go contrary to the Labour Act.
Mr Jones Ansah, Secretary-General of the Trades Union Congress, said labour unions had not been taken seriously by governments over the years, calling for urgent action to resolve the situation.
He said no worker’s contract should be terminated without a reason in order to promote peaceful industrial relations.
He called on the Government to well-resource the country’s labour institutions to effectively deliver on their mandate.
GNA
Edited by Agnes Boye-Doe
Reporter: Kodjo Adams [email protected]