MRS. JANET DOE vs. SOCIAL SECURITY AND NATIONAL INSURANCE TRUST AND THE TRUST HOSPITAL [2015]DLCA3144

MRS. JANET DOE vs. SOCIAL SECURITY AND NATIONAL INSURANCE TRUST AND THE TRUST HO... [2015]DLCA3144

Date	2015-03-26
Suit No.	CIVIL APPEAL NO. H1/191/2014
Citation No.	[2015]DLCA3144

OWUSU J. A (PRESIDING)

ACQUAYE J.A.

TORKORNOO J. A.

NII KPAKPO ADDO FOR PLAINTIFF/APPELLANT

AKOTO BAFOUR FOR DEFENDANTS/RESPONDENTS

[2015]DLCA3144
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MRS. JANET DOE

&nbsp;[COURT OF APPEAL, ACCRA]

CIVIL
APPEAL NO. H1/191/2014&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;DATE: 26TH
MARCH, 2015

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COUNSEL:&nbsp;&nbsp;

NII KPAKPO ADDO FOR
PLAINTIFF/APPELLANT,

AKOTO
BAFOUR FOR DEFENDANTS/RESPONDENTS

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CORAM:

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&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

JUDGEMENT

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TORKORNOO, J. A:

The
plaintiff/appellant in this suit was employed for over 20 years at the Trust
Hospital as an employee of SSNIT, the 1st defendant/Respondent. In
the High Court, her case was that SSNIT entered into an organizational
restructuring exercise which separated the Trust Hospital from the
organization. The Trust Hospital was taken over by the 2nd
defendant/respondent, which had been incorporated as a separate legal entity. This
exercise made her redundant along with other staff effective 31st
December 2012.

She
argued that under Section 65 of the Labor Act 2003 (Act 651), SSNIT, was required
by law to negotiate a redundancy package with her but they failed to do so. It
reads -

Section 65 – Redundancy

2)
Without prejudice to subsection (1),
where an undertaking is closed down or undergoes an arrangement or amalgamation
and the close down, arrangement or amalgamation causes

a. severance of the legal relationship
of worker and employer as it existed immediately before the close down,
arrangement or amalgamation; and

b. as a result of and in addition to
the severance that worker becomes unemployed or suffers any diminution in the
terms and conditions of employment,

the worker is entitled to be paid by
the undertaking at which that worker was immediately employed prior to the
close down, arrangement or amalgamation, compensation, in this section referred
to as ‘redundancy pay’

4. The amount of redundancy pay and the
terms and conditions of payment are matters which are subject to negotiation
between the employer or a representative of the employer on the one hand and
the worker or the trade union concerned on the other.

Her
complaint is that, without negotiation, SSNIT paid her a compulsory exit
package which comprised 3 months’ salary and salaries for the remaining twenty
two months that she was to work prior to retirement. They paid her the money
with a direction to complete and submit a handing over certificate and dis-engagement
form and hand over any property of SSNIT in her possession to the Trust
Hospital administrator before a specified date.

&nbsp;She wrote through her lawyers to protest this ‘unilaterally and arbitrarily determined exit
package’. She said that it did not take into consideration pension
contributions for the remaining 22 months that she would have been in
employment until her retirement, the possibility of salary increases in these
22 months, and all the benefits that come along with being in active employment
such as the employer’s contribution to the provident fund, fuel allowance,
clothing allowance etc. She also found out that the 1st respondent
had discriminated against her and given a more enhanced exit package of 20% of
annual salary for each year worked to its other employees who were below her
age group.

Notwithstanding
these reservations, she kept the payment and also proceeded to present her
handing over certificate and disengagement form and hand over all properties in
her possession to the hospital administrator as instructed.

It
is her case that as a sequel to the compulsory redundancy exercise, the 1st
respondent directed Trust Hospital to give a 3 month employment contract to all
SSNIT employees at the Trust Hospital who were affected by the redundancy. She
entered into this contract and commenced work on 2nd January 2013.

She
complained that the Trust hospital, upon hearing of her expression of dissatisfaction
with the redundancy package informed her that they could only continue the 3 month
contract with her after she had first resolved her issues with SSNIT. Her
response was that her issues with SSNIT could not be a condition precedent to
the already valid and existing three month contract that she had started to
implement at </main>