Sri Lanka’s Cabinet has approved the appointment of a committee to recommend reforms to the way state-owned enterprises hire temporary “manpower” employees through external agencies, Minister Nalinda Jayatissa told reporters. Newswire reported the measure originated as a proposal by the Minister of Labour.
Jayatissa said a growing number of state enterprises have been employing workers on a temporary basis through outside manpower agencies rather than recruiting staff directly for their core operations. Many such workers have been attached to the same institution for long periods.
“As a result, an insecure employment community has emerged in those institutions, who perform the same duties as permanent employees but do not have job security, statutory benefits and proper legal recognition,” he said. “This situation is a departure from the basic labour concept of equal pay for equal work.”
The minister said Sri Lanka is obliged to protect the rights and welfare of such workers under the International Labour Organization’s Private Employment Agencies Convention, and that legal provisions must be amended to regulate manpower-agency employment. Sri Lanka has moved to strengthen its labour framework in recent months, including ratifying ILO Convention 190 on workplace violence and harassment.
The committee, comprising relevant officials and stakeholders, is to submit recommendations on the steps to be taken and the amendment of relevant laws and regulations — without prejudice to manpower employees already engaged for long periods in the core activities of state enterprises. State-sector employment costs have been a recurring focus of reform pressure, with Parliament repeatedly extending oversight of loss-making state enterprises.
