Telecom firm, Tigo Ghana, has described as “unfair” a human resource policy by its out-sourcing agency, Reliance Personnel Services, which said women would have to re-apply for their jobs after maternity leave, and they would be considered for re-engagement only upon availability of vacancy.

In a statement, Tigo Ghana said: “Regarding the story circulating in the media about a new policy directive from Tigo’s out-sourcing agency, Reliance Personnel Services, in relation to maternity leave, we wish to clarify our position.

The policy is unfair and does not meet the standards of our commitment to diversity and inclusion especially at a time when the world is calling for gender parity to bridge the gender gap. As a company that has deep respect for transparency, diversity and equal opportunities, we will not tolerate any breaches in respect to our Suppliers Code of Conduct and or / higher standards.”

Tigo Ghana said after its discussions with Reliance, it has taken immediate action and the only affected employee has been contacted.

It said going forward, Reliance will do the following:

• Pay all female staff on maternity leave their full salary.

• Ensure that all employees return to their jobs after the 3 months maternity leave.

• Allow for shorter working days for nursing mothers at their return to work.

“This is in full compliance with Ghana’s Labour Law and Tigo Ghana’s commitment to Diversity and Inclusion as well as our international parent company, Millicom’s commitments which also includes respect for Human Rights.

“Diversity, specifically promoting gender diversity is one of the cornerstones of our business strategy and in Ghana we have increased the number of women in senior management positions from 5% in 2013 to 30% in 2015.

"At Tigo our aim is to recruit, retain and develop the best talent at every level in the organisation and we want to send a message to all women, whether mothers or not, that we are totally committed to being inclusive.
“As a business, we have both short and long term needs and like most others, very much depend on vendors and suppliers to help us to deliver on our objectives. Out-sourcing some of our business services is commonplace and allows us to stay focused on our core business. Using local businesses such as Reliance Personnel Services for staff on contract is therefore not out of the norm.

“Today I have asked my team to conduct an in-depth audit of some of our key vendors and suppliers, including Reliance, to ensure strict adherence and compliance to all our Service Level Agreements and Code of Conduct, without exception. This is in addition to our standard supplier monitoring processes,” the statement signed by CEO Roshi Motman said.