Clarify our worth, NCTE

I write for clarification from the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE), the body mandated by law with oversight responsibility for public tertiary educational institutions in Ghana.

Its functions include the validation and processing of salaries and allowances of both teaching and non-teaching staff of all such institutions and forwarding same to the Controller and Accountant General's Department (CAGD) for onward payment to tertiary educational workers.

My issue is: Why are all categories of security personnel in our public tertiary institutions (watchmen, gatemen, security officers) paid commuted monthly overtime allowance, except guards, in clear breach of sections 33 to 38 of the Labour Act 2003 (Act 651)?

Guards equally perform the same 12 hours per shift and in some cases, perform the combined roles of gatemen, watchmen, security officers due to the shortage of security staff.

They are compelled to take just a day off after every two weeks of continuous duty. It will interest the public to note that the security landscape is fast changing and, as such, various titles are continuously coined to variously describe them, such as, watchman, gateman, access control officer, protection officer, security officer, guard, etc.

The fact that school qualification and work experience are some of the factors used to determine the salary levels of the various security title holders must bring about a second look at the policy to exempt guards from receiving any form of allowance though they brace the same cold night weather, working past the legally mandated eight hours per day, 40 hours per week, just like their junior watchman/gateman colleagues and their senior officers.