Court rules religious workers are 'employees'

[Guest Kurt]

2017-05-02

 

FULL-TIME devotees of the Jehovah's Witnesses Christian congregation in Namibia are entitled to the same social security protection as other employees in the country, a Windhoek Labour Court judgement confirmed last week.

The judgement was delivered in a case in which the legal employment status of members of the Worldwide Order of Special Full-Time Servants of Jehovah's Witnesses was in dispute.

In the judgement, acting judge Petrus Unengu ruled that members of that religious order fall within the definition of an “employee” in the Labour Act and the Social Security Act, and as a result the Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses of Namibia should be regarded as an employer in terms of the Social Security Act.

The congregation lodged an appeal to the Labour Court after the Social Security Commission decided in March last year that the congregation, which wanted to be de-registered as an employer, was an employer in terms of the Social Security Act.

De-registration would mean that members of the Worldwide Order of Special Full-Time Servants of Jehovah's Witnesses working for the Namibian congregation would not have to be registered with the Social Security Commission and would then also not be entitled to social security benefits like maternity and sick leave payments.

The congregation's argument was that members of the order, who perform religious work in furtherance of their faith, had chosen a lifestyle rather than assumed work or a job when they joined the order.

Acting judge Unengu noted in his judgement that although the congregation and members of the order did not sign written employment contracts with each other, members of the order completed application forms to become a member in order to serve the church in a full-time capacity.

Once accepted as a member, they are also required to take a vow of obedience and poverty, which is taken to be an indication that they are prepared to live a modest lifestyle and to perform any tasks assigned to them by the order. Members of the order are also required to abstain from outside employment.

Acting judge Unengu further noted that members of the order had fixed hours of service from Mondays to Fridays and received a monthly allowance of about N$940.

The congregation previously registered itself with the SSC as an employer and failed to show to the court why it now no longer considered itself an employer as per the Social Security Act, acting judge Unengu said.

He added that he agreed with the SSC's argument that the congregation was trying to evade its obligations under the law. The court could not allow the congregation's employees to be unprotected in the event that they, for instance, fell ill or became pregnant, he stated.

The congregation “cannot pick and choose which laws should apply to them and which not”, he remarked.

Senior counsel Theo Frank, assisted by Adolf Denk, represented the congregation when the matter was argued in February. The SSC was represented by Norman Tjombe.

source

 

[Steve Wilkinson]

On 02/05/2017 at 12:24, Kurt said:

Acting judge Unengu further noted that members of the order had fixed hours of service from Mondays to Fridays and received a monthly allowance of about N$940.

This equates to £56.92 In UK money or $76.30 in the USA. Not much to live on or to put away for a rainy day.