Solomon Kotei, the immediate past General Secretary of the Industrial and Commercial Workers’ Union (ICU), has hinted that most potential employees pay less attention to the terms and conditions of jobs before accepting the offer.

Out of despair due to lack of jobs, he explained that prospective employees sign the appointment letter immediately after it has been granted them.

“Once they are desperate, and they are handed an appointment letter, they go and sign acceptance and they start work.”
Solomon Kotei

Mr. Kotei argued that since forthcoming employees do not do their due diligence to examine the terms and conditions of the job offers, it sometimes creates a situation where they find themselves in jobs with unfavourable working conditions.

However, the prospective employees are unable to leave because of the high possibility of not securing another job when they exit.

Speaking in an interview, the past General Secretary of the Industrial and Commercial Workers’ Union addressed the concerns of such persons.

The discussion was based on the take-home salary of the average Ghanaian worker as to whether it is sufficient to cater for their day-to-day expenses in the country.

During the discussions, Mr. Kotei highlighted that one of the factors that have brought down the level of salaries is that bachelor degrees are now common among job seekers.

“The core issue is that when people are looking for a job, because we are in a country where now to be a degree holder is common, the demand and supply has brought down the rate of pay. Because, if the employer gets over the market and it’s easy for him or her to get degree holders, he’ll then come and readjust or revamp his salary structure and place it at a point.”
Solomon Kotei

“And we are also not in the slave market where when we find ourselves in a job that is really not paying, one can’t do otherwise.”
Solomon Kotei

Moreover, Mr. Solomon Kotei implored employers to disclose their financials to employees on a regular basis.

He further clarified that failure to do so, partly contributes to the factors that influences employees’ perception that their employers make more profits but refuse to pay them well when that may not necessarily be the case.

Build your CVs for better salaries

Meanwhile, the immediate-past General Secretary of the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union, underscored the need for prospective job-seekers to build their Curriculum Vitae (CVs) in order to earn a better salary.

Mr Solomon Kotei explained that considering the high requirements for employment, in terms of experience and qualifications, most workers and their unemployed colleagues should try to update their CVs to catch up with demands of the job market.

“So go to Accra Workers College, after 5:00pm, you’d find people sitting there learning to do something, and even late.
Solomon Kotei

“If you can’t sacrifice. If you can’t say, look, let me burn the midnight candle a bit to make a better fortune. Because in most of our institutions, the higher your qualification, they match it to your earnings.”
Solomon Kotei