Two employees of the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) have urgently filed a court case aiming to stop the transition to the Social Health Authority (SHA) until the matter is heard and decided.
Gwaragwara Nkosi and Khadija Ali, both working for NHIF, are requesting the court to prevent the transition committee from submitting their report to the President, the Ministry of Health, SHA, and the NHIF board.
They contend that the recent salary increases have created significant disparities, with management staff earning less than the employees they supervise.
They seek a court order asserting that raising the salaries of unionized NHIF employees without corresponding increases for management staff violates the rights of the affected NHIF management staff.
“The disparity amounts to a serious payout audit query,” states the petition.
Additionally, they are asking the court to compel the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) to review their salaries, arguing that the current situation breaches public service remuneration and benefits policy guidelines.
Nkosi and Ali argue that the Social Health Insurance Act stipulates absorption into SHA and deployment into public service, where salary disparities will affect all employees, including those approaching retirement.
They assert that the respondents have failed to treat the petitioners with dignity and respect.
“Unless this application is certified urgent the petitioners will continue to suffer prejudice through the violation of their fundamental rights and freedoms,” the court papers note.
They also claim that management staff face discrimination in pension savings, as their unionized counterparts save more, violating fair labor practices.
“Upon retirement, the unionized employees negotiated better redundancy terms for its members within HF1 to HF7, while the management staff have not been considered for better terms, including voluntary early retirement and voluntary separation incentives, and risk further discrimination,” the court documents state.
The respondents in the case include the SRC, the Attorney General, the Social Health Authority, and the NHIF board.
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