Nata Timber dragged to court over unfair dismissal

Mosetsanagape Matlhare of Kanye but residing in Tsolamosese has dragged Nata Timber Industries to court for unlawful dismissal from work.Matlhare’s statement of a case which is before the court shows that she was employed by Nata Timber as a receptionist in January 2014.However, sometime in February 2023, one Rose Maleele came and introduced herself to employees of Nata Timber as contracted human resource personnel for the company.She allegedly told Matlhare that she would be responsible for mediating disputes between workers and management on issues of salaries/wages. Maleele went on to say there would be changes made such as not paying for unpaid leave days and that staff would be moving from permanent employment to new contracts, the length of which was to be determined by company management.On the 30th March, Maleele allegedly told Matlhare that she should not be surprised if she received more monies than usual as the company had decided to terminate their contracts and therefore would be paying them their benefits. An hour later, the money indeed reported on employees’ bank accounts.On the second week of April, Matlhare was given a new contract of a one-year period; in addition, she was to be on probation for six months. Matlhare felt that if she agreed to the contents of the new contract, she would be exploited. She refused to sign, an act which did not sit well with her bosses.On the 29th April, Matlhare was summoned to the bosses’ office but the meeting did not happen as she felt it was already time for her to knock off. On the 4th of May, Matlhare went to the Department of Labour office to seek clarity in relation to the new employment terms. She alleges that her bosses were not pleased, accusing her of insubordination.She was given a warning letter which accused her of being rude and refusing to meet the company director when summoned. Matlhare refused to sign it and a disciplinary hearing was later held in her absence. Two weeks later, she was fired. Now Matlhare wants relief in the sum of P10 800 for loss of income.In response, Barbra Machongo, cited as Human Resource Officer, said the objective was never to make anyone lose their job but to formalise employment contracts to ensure that employees were paid all monies due to them according to Labour laws of Botswana. According to Machongo, the proposed new contracts included a clause that stated that it replaces any previous contract to ensure that there is only one contract between the employer and employees.Machongo dismissed Matlhare’s statement, saying it was full of contradictions and not completely factual. Machongo denied that they said leave days would change as stated by the former employee. Further, when they gave Matlhare her new contract, she said she would consult with someone regarding its contents. She even asked if she could go to Labour office and they had no issues with her doing so.Regarding the meeting which Matlhare did not attend after she was summoned, Machongo said the former employee was heard saying the company director was wasting her time and left instead of asking that the meeting be rescheduled. They also deny that they issued Matlhare with a warning letter but instead say she was notified of a disciplinary hearing. Matlhare refused to sign acceptance of the hearing notice and even refused to attend it.She claims they postponed the hearing for one day in an attempt to convince the applicant to attend but she still refused and the meeting went on in her absence. She was found guilty of gross misconduct and was dismissed with a one month’s notice and all monies due to her.Last year, several disgruntled Nata Timber employees spoke to this publication, complaining about new developments at their company. They strongly felt that the employer was not being fair on them to terminate contracts and give them new ones.When building her case, Matlhare produced to court a letter purportedly written by the then disgruntled employees, expressing concern about what they saw as retrenchment. When responding to that, Machongo said there were no illegal retrenchments that took place as after three months, all employees were still in the same positions with signed contracts, meaning the statement of disgruntled employees was not true. Case trial began last week and will continue on the 26th August 2024.

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Nata Timber dragged to court over unfair dismissal