The timed-based wage system should be changed in favour of a productivity-based system where workers are rewarded for performance, a Federation of Kenya Employers meeting heard on Thursday.
Salaries and Remuneration Commission vice chair Daniel Ogutu said the system had fostered poor work ethics amongst Kenyans with majority of public servants and some in the private sector only reporting out of formality.
“In India, I had a suit done in a record two hours and delivered to me for payment, unlike the one I ordered in Nairobi for which I paid upfront that took three weeks,” pointed out Mr Ogutu.
“It is not uncommon to visit an office and find workers missing, yet they expect pay at the end of the month,” he said.
Mr Ogutu made the remarks when he addressed the 28th Annual General Meeting of the FKE Rift Valley branch at Hotel Cathay in Nakuru.
FKE national deputy chairman Linus Gitahi urged Kenyans to embrace a culture of hard work pegged on productivity and not a minimum wage, citing the examples of India and China where goods are cheaper on account of cheap labour.
FKE executive director Jacqueline Mugo said they would continue engaging with employers on the new labour laws as well as help them enhance their productivity levels in a cost-effective environment.
Newly elected FKE Rift Valley branch chair Dr Thomas Serem, voicing similar views, commended the government for improving the roads and urged for concerted efforts by county governments to improve rural roads to motorable standards to enable them to access markets.
“The government needs to develop policies on wage determination based on indices of productivity if our businesses are to remain profitable and competitive on a global market. Employers need to be allowed to pay workers based on the value of work done,” said Dr Serem.
Mr Ogutu called on all stakeholders in government and in the private sector to support a SRC initiative of formulating a national wage policy that seeks to boost productivity levels to enable companies to produce more at lower cost, thereby creating a chance to expand their lines and employ more people.
“We need to look at ways of helping the government create job opportunities for Kenyans who, for the longest time, have led extended-family style lives, where the working individual helps his siblings to the hilt.
“How do companies manage this when their wage bills are dictated by government, without their input? We need a shift in engagement between government and the private sector.
Wages must be dictated by individual productivity. It would be better to pay less and employ more than burden ourselves with unproductive individuals,” he said.
MEASURE PRODUCTION
Dr Serem challenged the Labour Ministry to assist the Productivity Centre to create a productivity index to measure the production of individuals, companies and the country at large, on a per unit cost.
He urged leaders to put in place measures to address insecurity in various parts of the country, saying investors were being discouraged from venturing into certain counties despite the availability of raw materials for different enterprises.
0 comments:
Post a Comment