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The National Labour Commission (NLC) receives about 55 cases every month and at least a case each working day.

Thus, on average, the NLC received 666 complaints annually, and a total of 6,657 complaints within a period of 10 years.

Among the major complaints made were unfair termination of employment, compensations, salary areas and outstanding transport allowance.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Employers' Association (GEA), Alex Frimpong, who announced this in Accra, said to complement the commission’s effort to deal with the issues, it was necessary to improve the capacity of Listed Arbitrators and Mediators.

He said proactive and efficient channels for resolving labour disputes were necessary to sustain a harmonious industrial climate and labour market stability.

Event

Mr Frimpong was speaking during a two-day workshop to train arbitrators and mediators to strengthen the dispute resolution value chain for prompt facilitation of justice.

The workshop was also aimed at supporting the NLC to augment its mediation and arbitration role for effective and efficient labour dispute settlement in the country.

It was organised by the GEA in collaboration with the NLC, and supported by the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO).


Participants were taken through topics such as industrial relations in Norway; labour dispute resolution, the role of the NLC in industrial dispute resolution; provisions of the code of rules for mediators and arbitrators at the commission, and challenges and prospects of alternative dispute resolution in the country.

“We believe that the outcome of this training will contribute immensely to the promotion of stability and harmony within the industrial relations environment,” Mr Frimpong added.

Advice

The Chairman of the National Labour Commission, Justice Kwabena Asuman-Adu, also advised the participants to take the training programme seriously.


He also urged them to be neutral in dispensing their duties, adding that “to perform your duties as mediators and arbitrators effectively, you need to be neutral”.

“This is because a neutral trained mediator works to help disputants come to consensus on their own,” the chairman added.

For his part, the Executive Secretary of the NLC, Ofosu Asamoah, said the training exercise was crucial, adding that there was the need to employ modern means of dispute resolution.