14th December 2020
The outcome of a possible class-action lawsuit that is only now taking shape could open floodgates (as well as vaults at the Bank of Botswana) as 30 former part-time employees of the Department of Information Services (DIS) claim P1.8 million in unpaid wages.
Courtesy of a mis-worded contract of service, DIS legally bound itself to pay young people enrolled in its Youth Freelancers Programme for stories and pictures “submitted” – and not “published” as is the norm internationally. However, the accounts department applied the norm and there was no complaint from the freelancers until one was alerted by a DIS employee. The latter apparently had an axe to grind with the person responsible for the contract. With the one freelancer having been paid and upon a lawyer’s intervention, the 30 ex-freelancers are also demanding that they be paid as well. The first name on the list is that of Juliah Kotlhao and in line with judicial norm, the matter becomes Julia