Govt employees forced to work overtime without pay

07 January 2015 – Government employees in Chin State complain of being forced to work overtime outside their office hours without getting paid.

Three nurses and two assistants said that they were ordered to do extra hours on Tuesday during a monthly training held in Falam from 29 December 2014 to 7 January 2015.

One of the nurses told The Chinland Post on condition of anonimity: “We were ordered to work four hours until 12:30 at night after normal office hours.”

She said that they had not been asked first if they would be able to work, adding: “We were shouted at and not even given time for eating.”

She also said that it had happened several times in the past and that they had never got paid for the hours.

Similarly, staff members of other government departments in Hakha indicate their ‘unhappy’ experience at work.

A Hakha government employee told the Chinland Guardian: “It is normal that we are told to carry out a task in a way that gives you no choice but to do the job. Mostly, we are not even aware of the fact that we are being forced.”

“Sometimes, we have to work over the weekend. That means we miss our church services. It is true that we are not paid for overtime hours,” she said.#