adminFredrick Qaphelani Mabikwa Successful Solutions
We have come to the end of the year, the time when people celebrate the departing year and take a bit of rest to “feast” with their beloved ones.
Employers are looking back at the year and reflecting on how business went and also planning for the coming year. As employers, we need to ask ourselves, what have we done for our employees as the year comes to an end? A successful business couple, who are family friends, throw a massive end of year party for their employees at their house each year. I have had the privilege of attending two of these parties where employees are rewarded for various achievements during the year while some are given long service awards. Every year, they give their employees a bonus. This couple has given their senior technicians vehicles. They have bought stands for all their employees who have served them for more than 10 years. Given the tight economic environment that we are operating in, this couple is doing very well and I want to believe that, the good Lord blesses their business by the way they treat their employees.
Fellow employer, what have you done for your employees this year? It is very sad to note that after a year of hard work, some employers don’t recognise the hard work the employees have put into the business for the realisation of profits. Employees are not given bonuses, bonuses which the employer could afford. The employer hides behind the so-called “hard times” and says there is no money, but ironically, the employer takes his family out to Victoria Falls, Kariba, Nyanga or across the borders for a holiday while the employees and their families are left with a black festive season.
One of our late heroes buried at the national shrine once said when you find a field ploughed very well and you ask who ploughed this beautiful field, people say “it’s Mr X”. The reality on the ground however, is that it’s the farm labourers with the donkeys or the oxen who have ploughed that field but we never say “Ah it’s Mr X’s donkeys that ploughed the field”. What our late intelligent hero meant was that half the time, the actual people who do the work are forgotten. How do you feel Mr Employer when you go and dine and wine with your family on an expensive holiday and your employees have not received a bonus you could afford?
How do you feel Mr Employer when you have not thrown a small “thank you” Christmas party for your employees who have made money for you?
In big companies, employees are just bombarded with big economic terms on why there is no money and half the time, management is not telling the truth. Employees don’t need to understand these economic terms, they need food on their table and to be afforded the chance to live a decent life. Employees are told the company is not making profits, but management is seen acquiring one vehicle after the other — the latest on the market. In private schools, teachers make a reputation for the school by working hard and producing good results and putting the school on the national map. But the teachers can’t even afford to buy vehicles, they use public transport to go to work. In some cases, they are given lifts by senior students who drive. This is de-humanising the teacher. I have singled out teachers because I am a former teacher and know how difficult this job is.
May I say that it is a fact that most businesses are struggling and at times it is true that the business has not made enough to afford bonuses. However, the denial of bonuses for employees, where the employer can afford is evil. It is also just a sign of more bad working conditions subjected to some employees. We have employees who can’t raise their head to ask a simple question about their conditions of work. When they ask, they are threatened with dismissal and reminded how lucky they are to be employed in these difficult times. These are unfair labour practices. I heard one employer say they have an “open door policy”, meaning that if an employee is not happy, they can always leave “. . . the door is open”. Dear readers, is this the definition of “open door policy?”
We have employees who are working without contracts. They don’t have a stipulated salary; they’re given what the employer feels like giving them that month. The Good Book in Romans 4:4 clearly states that wages are a right not a gift. “Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due.”
We have employees who have never known leave and I am not exaggerating. They have been told “you can take leave, but don’t come back . . .” It is mostly the employees in the very lower grades who are taken advantage of, the drivers, cleaners, groundsmen and security guards. In most oppressive workplaces, these are the grades that are not given contracts. Most of these low grade workers are deliberately denied information about their rights as employees. In fairly big organisations, you find the workers have no workers’ committee. They are not allowed to have it. If at all it is available, it is toothless—management has removed its “teeth.”
The same applies to those of us who employ one person – the maid. What have you done for your loyal maid this festive season? Did you give her a bonus, or at least buy some groceries for them? The maid has kept your child(ren) safely throughout the whole year and has not kicked them like the Kenyan maid. Some maids have even looked after our wives. They have kept our houses clean and secure throughout the whole year. The importance of these people is not realised until they take leave and suddenly their absence is felt in the house. What have we done for them as a sign of appreciation for the hard work?
As we get ready for a new year, I want employers to know that it is very important to respect our employees because we are partly what we are because of them. If you were one of those with unfair labour practices, resolve to change in the New Year. The Good Book tells us in Colossians 4:1 “Masters treat your slaves justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.”
I have come to believe that God doesn’t bless evil employers. Yes they can appear to be rich and happy now, but a time comes when all the evil they were subjecting their employees to catches up with them.
Online Reporter