No medical allowance, No NASSIT and late payment of salary
July 25, 2017 By Joseph S. Margai
Accuser: Alpha B. Barrie
Accused, Ahmed “Big boss” Yigit
A former employee of Malick Quarry, Alpha B. Barrie, has accused his ex-employer of subjecting workers to inhumane treatment, claiming that he resigned his position as a driver because of onerous conditions of service.
Malick Quarry operates at Ropath Village, Koya Chiefdom, Port Loko district, northern Sierra Leone.
In an interview with our reporter recently at the village, Mr. Barrie alleged that his boss is a racist who always subjects local workers to inhumane treatment, adding that their social security contributions are not being paid by the employer – a serious breach of employment laws in the country.
“He doesn’t pay NASSIT for his workers and there is no medical allowance. The salary, which is very low, does not come on time. He told us that he would pay salaries 10 days after each month but sometimes salary comes 25 days after the month,” claimed Barrie.
He further alleged that whenever any of the local staff raises concern, the owner of the quarry would react by asking them to resign if they are not satisfied with the conditions of service.
He claimed that the management of Malick Quarry had lied to employees that their National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT) contributions were being paid regularly in order to get maximum commitment from workers.
“I met management and told them that I would no longer work under such conditions, so I resigned. They promised to pay me my benefit since May 2017 but haven’t done so. I have been going there on a daily basis in order to urge them pay my benefit, but to no avail,” he said.
However, owner of Malick Quarry, Ahmed “Big Boss Yigit, confirmed that Alpha B. Barrie was an employee at the quarry.
He refused to disclose his full name to our reporter, only identifying himself as Malick “the big boss”.
Yigit claimed that Barrie flouted the company’s rules and regulations on several occasions, noting that he would always beg whenever management reached a decision to terminate his service.
He revealed that Barrie had once involved in a rogue activity by collecting an undisclosed amount of money on behalf of the company from a certain lady and transported trucks of granite to her without the consent of management.
“The rules here are a worker should not steal or drink alcohol while on duty. Anyone that breaks these rules will have their services terminated without benefit. But sometimes, even if their services are terminated, they would come and plead again and we accept them because we are here to help,” he said.
“In the case Alpha B. Barrie, we have not told him that we will not pay him his benefit. The only problem is that he parked our truck and left without informing us. So, we never knew if our truck was faulty or not,” he added.
Malick “the big boss” noted that if a worker resigns without being in breach of any of the company’s rules, they would be paid a deserving benefit.
He denied allegations that management had not been paying NASSIT contributions for staff.
“We provide medical allowances to all of them working here. The allegation that salaries are not paid on time is also not true. We have categorically told them that we would pay salaries 10 days after each month and we always do so. The reason for late payment has to do with delay at the bank,” he said.