Employment Ministry begins review process of 2003 labour law

The Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations has begun the review process of the 2003 labour law.

The two-day workshop that kick-started at the La Villa hotel in Accra saw labour stakeholders like the European Union Delegation in Ghana, the Employers Association, National Tripartite Committee, the Trade Union Congress and the other stakeholders in attendance in the quest to seek and build consensus on comments on the current labour laws.

The Chief Director at the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations, who gave the welcome address at the event on behalf of the minister argued that the review process is to aid the ministry address growing concerns in the labour environment, key amongst them is making provisions to carter for emerging labour problems and also to improve labour administration.

The Programmes Officer at the Macro-economic and Trade section of the European Union Delegation who was the representative of the European Union Delegation at the workshop Marta Brignone said the EU has been supporting the Ministry since 2018.

“Since 2018 the European Union is supporting the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations (MELR) in its efforts to strengthen the implementation of the National Employment Policy. This support is provided under the Ghana Employment and Social Protection (GESP) Programme that contributes to inclusive growth in Ghana by supporting social protection and employment systems,” she indicated.

Martha also wished all the stakeholders at the workshop a fruitful discussion in the bid to review the labour law.

“We are glad to assist today in the first of the 2-days workshop to review the comments received from the various institutions and wish all stakeholders fruitful discussions to complete the review process that remains one of the main priorities of the MELR,” she added.

Mrs Emma Ofori Agyeman, the Director of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation at the Ministry noted that the Ministry has received many comments and concerns about the labour law both from workers and employers.

According to her, the workshop grants the ministry, the opportunity to consider these suggestions in the reviewing process of the labour law and also asked members of the general public to submit their concerns to the ministry.