On 23 May 2020, the Employment and Labor Relations Court issued an order preventing two universities from implementing a forty percent (40%) pay cut on their employees’ salaries subject to any negotiations between the parties. The employers had premised the intended pay cuts on the universities’ inability to generate funds owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The suit was filed by the Universities Academic and Staff Union (UASU) who, among other grounds argued that the union had not been included in the decision to implement the intended pay cuts.

The Employment Act, 2007 (The Act), under Part IV, requires an employer to pay the full salary due to an employee. The Act prohibits deductions unless under certain limited circumstances including contribution to pension schemes, repayment for loan money advanced to an employee or payment for loss resulting from the willful default of an employee.

However, the slowdown resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic has affected many employers’ ability to meet their obligations to their employees and many employees have had to accept pay cuts or unpaid leave. This case cautions employers with unionized employees to carefully consider any existing Collective Bargaining Agreement clauses that call for a unions input before any adverse action can be taken against an employee.

Please note that this is an ongoing matter and we shall keep you updated on the progress.

Please contact us at info@cfllegal.com should you require more information.