Parliamentary scrutiny must produce good law

Despite fashioning and passing the most comprehensive and progressive labour laws, Government has had to watch as strong legal challenges from employers push worker’s rights back to the status quo or worse.

The fate of a raft of legislation introduced to improve worker’s welfare — the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Work Injury Benefits Act, the Employment Act and the Labour Relations Act — has been troubled since a partial implementation on January 1 last year. Statutory offices meant to operationalise the laws are yet to be created, but this is the least of the problems facing them.