Employees of Korean-funded non-governmental organisation (NGO) Good Neighbours Malawi have voiced out their concern against the lack of employment contracts.
The disgruntled employees have also accused the international NGO of allegedly having a poor salary structure which they allege is dependent on one’s ‘connections’ to country director Gyo Jin Joo.
In a grievance letter dated February 20 2025 from staff to management they further claims that besides low salaries, the allocation does not consider employees’ experience, qualification, scope of work or contribution to the organisation.
Reads the letter in part: “We commenced work without formal employment contracts…but up to now we have not received contracts yet salaries are paid contrary to Malawi labour laws as outlined in Section 27 of the Employment Act of 2000.”
According to the organisation’s conditions of service, contracts are renewed every year but under the current management some employees claim to have worked without contracts for over a year.
Over three months after dropping the grievance letter, The Nation has learnt that most employees are yet to receive contracts while some have resigned due to lack of job security.
In a written response, the country director could neither confirm nor deny the allegations.
“Employment contracts have been issued to staff, with some remaining due to necessary revisions. Those who are not satisfied with the terms offered have the right to decline the contract,” said Joo.
In a separate interview, the NGO’s board chairperson Clement Bisai confirmed receiving the grievances and complaints against the country director’s leadership style.
He said: “Immediately we got this news, we organised a meeting with managers in the absence of the CD [country director] for us to fully understand the context of the issues raised and as a way of creating a friendly talking environment with them.
“We later met the CD again to share with her our findings. We keep on monitoring the implementation of agreed solutions.”
Minister of Labour Peter Dimba has since described the issues as concerning, particularly when they come from the formal employment sector where expectations are high on compliance with labour laws.
“The Employment Act is very clear that employees ought to sign employment contract on commencement of their employment so that they are fully aware of their rights, responsibilities and obligations of themselves and their employer, the breach of which is legally enforceable,” he said.
The NGO, with a workforce of about 130, has an annual budget of about $840 000 (about K1.4 billion) supporting child education sponsorship, community development and humanitarian emergency relief in Malawi.
Records we have seen also show that the charity sits on carryovers amounting to K1.6 billion emanating from slow project implementation. This makes Good Neighbours one of the NGOs with a huge contribution on forex earning but also the economy as a whole.
An audit report for the year ending December 31, 2024 also queried this arrangement urging management to engage a human resource consultant to review allowances and align them to regulatory requirements and best practices.
