ERO LINK RECRUITMENT AGENCY SCANDAL

 

The government has formed a team to investigate complaints of workers against recruitment agencies they accuse of engaging in exploitative arrangements, to determine if they are observing the Labor Relations Act of 2004.

Speaking of initiatives taken by the government to address problems facing workers recruited by private agencies, Deputy Minister for Labor and Employment Dr Makongoro Mahanga told The Guardian in a telephone interview that among other things the government will consider the essence of having such agencies in the first place.

He said his ministry will also liaise with the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) to find out the mode through which they pay their taxes.

The minister said the issue of workers in a particular company working under different recruiting agencies’ payrolls has prompted misunderstandings between employees and the employers.

The Guardian recently came across letter complaining against the arrangement, saying workers are being cheated by some recruiting agencies.

When interviewed some of the employees who blame the recruiting agencies for taking advantage of the employment crisis to offer their clients workers recruited at much lower salaries compared to the actual amount paid by these companies.

Some employees recruited by the Erolink recruiting agency, claimed that the agency is full of nepotism and tend to favour the experienced personnel.

They alleged that Erolink has entered a contract of recruiting workers for some giant corporate companies and that it signs renewable three to six-month contracts with the recruited workers, apparently to avoid employing them on full term basis.

“Within the three-month contracts, salaries are indirectly paid to workers through Erolink management which determines the amount of salary to be paid to the workers,” read part of the letter.

The letter claimed that such arrangements deny workers basic rights such as health insurance, job security, being eligible to access loans and extra hours’ payments which are exclusive to their counterparts who are directly employed by the companies.

Reacting to the claims, Erolink Tanzania General Manager Natasha Ng’wanakilala and two advocates Evold Mushi and Godfrey Tesha refuted the claims saying the agency has been working according to the Labour Relations Act 2004 and that all workers were treated equally, stressing that her agency is ready for any assessment by the government.

When queried on the actual payments the agency gets from the companies for every worker they recruit, she said the payments are confidential under the contract agreement between the two parties, but that the documents will be disclosed if required by the ministry of Labour or any legal organ.

On claims of variation in payments between workers recruited by the agency and those directly employed by their clients despite being of the same rank and having similar qualifications, she said the arrangement is due to policies of the respective companies.

Tanzania Employment Service Agency (TaESA) Chief Executive Eliezer Mwasele told this paper in a telephone interview that the outsourcing agencies are supposed to work according to the country’s Labour laws and directives of the International Labor Organization (ILO).

For his part, TaESA Acting Chief Executive Officer Boniface Chandaruba said his office was aware of the matter, noting that he could not comment anything as there was a team which had already formed by his boss to investigate the matter.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN