The Sunday News
Nqobizitha Dhlamini Business Reporter
SUSPENDED insurer Altfin Insurance has reportedly stopped paying its workers’ salaries and packages as coffers have dried up, almost a year after it was suspended by the Insurance and Pensions Commission from writing new business.The company, once on sound footing after being ranked ninth out of 24 active short-term insurers in the Insurance and Pensions Commission report for the final quarter of 2013, with 4,45 percent share of total asset, was suspended by the regulator in April last year due to under capitalisation and failure to settle claims.
Workers from the company told Sunday Business that when the company was suspended, it cut salaries by half, then later to a quarter until it completely stopped paying.
However, all this was done without communicating with the workers.
The company is also reportedly failing to settle claims for insurance policies it issued as some of its investments were reportedly under-performing.
“We have heard that the suspension (of Altfin) was likely to be reversed as the shareholders were still solving the recapitalisation issue and therefore we continued going to work.
“Our bosses did not communicate with us on what was going on in the institution and this gave us hope that things were going to go back to normal as they seemed to be working on it,” said a worker who preferred anonymity for fear of victimisation.
“We spent the festive season and the months prior without salaries and our bosses never gave us an apology whatsoever in regards to that.”
“What hurt the most is we received pay slips but the money was never deposited in the bank,” added another worker from the institution.
Contacted for comment, Altfin general manager Mr Mapiye Chigorondondo admitted that the company was in arrears in terms of salaries although he could not divulge how much.
He said salaries would be paid once the money was available.
“The company has not been trading since last year due to the suspension and this led to the company experiencing liquidity challenges. Apart from the suspension, just like any other insurance company and or any other company in Zimbabwe, the adverse business environment also affected us.
“This situation has not spared our employees, as a result there are outstanding salary payments,” he said
Mr Chigorondondo added that the little money that the company was getting was going towards settling claims.
He added that shareholders were still in the process of seeking funds to recapitalise the company and bring it back to its feet.
Zimbabwe Funeral Service and Assurance Workers Union legal advisor Mr Sylvester Chindira said the obstacles that the company was facing should not affect the workers.
“It’s the duty of the employer to make sure that the wages of the employees are paid. The problems that are faced by the employer should not affect the employees as that would be unfair labour practice,” he said.
Mr Chindira also said workers could take a legal route in trying to solve the problem.
“If the workers have exhausted the internal ways to get their complaints heard, they need to start considering taking the legal route as every firm needs to constitute labour practices and ignorance always leaves workers with no choice but to consider the legal route,” he said.
