The Deputy Minister of Health and Social Services says that the health and well-being of employees are concerning, hence the need to create platforms to discuss strategies on how to improve their well-being.

Dr. Utjiua Muinjangue was speaking at the Employee Wellness Indaba Conference held in Windhoek.

Dr. Muinjangue says a recent survey revealed that over 70% of employees in Namibia suffer from work stress or chronic health conditions.

This causes a 35% productivity loss for Namibian companies.

MTC awarded its employees between N$30 000 and N$60 000 through its MTC Dreamers Project in a bid to aid them to create a sustainable value chain for themselves.

Employees were required to apply by submitting a business plan or an original idea, before being subjected to a series of presentations in order to convince the Evaluation Committee – made up of internal MTC experts to approve their envisaged plan.

More than 200 employees of Erongo Marine Enterprises (EME) and Commercial Cold Storage Namibia (CCS) have each received N$65,000 in dividends.

The Walvis Bay-based fishing company has paid out more than N$13 million to all permanent employees.

Erongo Marine Enterprises and Commercial Cold Storage Namibia are the first companies in the fishing sector to empower workers through profit sharing.

This is the sixth time dividends have been paid out, and it is the highest amount ever given to the workers.

Employees of Coca-Cola's Oshakati branch staged a demonstration in protest against Africa Personnel Service (APS), the biggest labor hire company in Namibia.

The employees in their petition claim that they have been receiving low wages since the company outsourced the employment of workers to APS in 2015.

In addition, the employees said they do not have fixed wages and are paid per hour on a 'no work, no pay' system.

The Public Service Commission says a study would be required to look into the realities of the size of the public service and determine what works for the country.

The ever-increasing size of the public service has drawn several opinions and views, following President Hage Geingob's meeting with the Public Service Commission leadership a month ago.

During the meeting, the President asked the Commission to look into the size of public service, considering the unsustainably high wage bill of N$29 billion.

A month-long strike by NHE employees has ended after management and the union agreed on a once-off payment of N$5 000.

The employees went on strike after management and the union reached a deadlock over wage negotiations.

The negotiations, which centered around salary increments, have ended with the employees agreeing to deductions from their salaries, given the "no work, no pay" rule in place during the strike - over an eight-month period. 

The employees had initially demanded a 7% salary increment and later proposed a once-off payment of N$10,000.

Striking employees at the National Housing Enterprise (NHE) have appealed to the Minister of Urban and Rural Development, Erastus Uutoni, to intervene in the ongoing wage dispute with the management.

The workers marched from the NHE headquarters to the Ministry to hand over the petition to Uutoni.

The workers are demanding a face-to-face dialogue with the management and the new board to end the industrial action. 

The strike at the National Housing Enterprise today entered its third day.

Employees say their industrial action is not only about salary increments, but overall governance at the company.

NHE Management is adamant that there is no money to effect salary increments.

Workers however say recent events within the institution indicate otherwise. 

They cited as an example, a trip undertaken by management to Cape Town and the holding of executive meetings at hotels instead of the company's boardroom, as well as the unprocedural appointment of certain employees.

276 workers at Rundu Cash and Carry stores have returned to work after recently being reinstated.

The employees were suspended from work after staging a demonstration in which they rejected low wages and ill-treatment at work.

They were supposed to commence with their duties on Wednesday, as agreed during a meeting.

However, upon arrival at work on Wednesday, the employees were not allowed to enter the shop.

Employees of the Namibia Housing Enterprise (NHE) have voted in favour of engaging in industrial action.

Workers, represented by the Public Service Union of Namibia (PSUN) conducted a vote on whether or not to strike, with 90 percent of workers voting in favour.

The development follows the company's failure to satisfy the workers' demand for a once-off payment of N$15 000, instead of salary increments, which it has stated it cannot afford.