Parliament rejects proposal to have companies pay graduate interns
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Parliament rejects proposal to have private companies/firms to pay graduate interns and foot health bills
Parliament rejects proposal to have private companies/firms to pay graduate interns and foot health bills.
Following a Parliamentary committee’s defeat of Aisha Jumwa, the Cabinet Secretary for Public Service, employers are no longer required to hire, pay, or provide insurance for interns.
The National Assembly Committee on Labour rejected the plan, arguing that forcing employers to hire and pay interns would further hurt the private sector, which is already suffering from high business costs.
According to Ms. Jumwa’s proposed amendments to the Public Service Internship Bill, 2022, the private sector would have been able to join Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) in paying interns for at least six months, as well as offering recent college and university graduates medical insurance and leave days.
The private sector is primarily dealing with rising expenditures in the form of higher taxes and stagnant or declining earnings; as a result, employers are increasingly recruiting people on contracts in an effort to reduce expenses like pensions.
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“Compelling the private sector to take on interns and perhaps employing them permanently would create a financial burden to companies trying to stay afloat as the numbers may be unsustainable,” the committee said in its report on the Bill.
The law does not currently compel the private sector to hire and pay graduate interns in addition to providing medical cover and other perks.
Besides stagnated sales and high costs of operations, the private sector is also bracing for tougher times ahead in the wake of high fuel costs and new tax measures such as housing levy.
The committee approved the Bill, setting the stage for its adoption by lawmakers in a move that looks set to change the fortunes of university and college graduates in an economy struggling to create jobs.
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