Nearly 67 former World Vision employees who worked in Melut area of Northern Upper Nile State claimed they have not been given their post-service benefits since 2018.

 Monyjok Michar Bol, one of the complaining former employees, told Radio Tamazuj Wednesday that since November last year, they have not been paid their benefits.

 “In 2015, we were contracted by World Vision to work in Melut IDP camp in the field of water and sanitation. The organization kept promising us that they would give us contracts and as we kept complaining, they suspended us without benefits,” he said.

He said each of them was supposed to receive 1,000,000 SSP.

 Faris Arop Choli, a lawyer representing the complainants, said he is seeking alternatives to have his clients paid. However, he pointed out that an appeal filed before the Court of Appeal in Juba has stalled since October because state court officials have failed to send their ruling documents to the court in Juba.

“The High Court in Renk non-procedurally overturned county court orders for my clients to be paid on the ground that there was no written contract between my clients and the organization,” Arop said.

 He added, “But the 2017 Labor Act provides that there shall be entitlements for those who worked for at least two years with or without contracts. What happened was that there was a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the organization and camp officials. The MoU contradicts our labour laws as it provides that there shall be no benefits at the end of the work and the MoU was done without consent of the 67 [employees]”.

 The lawyer urged court officials in Renk to send the documents to Juba. “The Appeal Court may confirm their judgment or overrule it. So, they should comply with the Juba Court orders and allow the case to proceed as soon as possible,” he stressed.

Radio Tamazuj was unable to reach Renk court officials and World Vision for comment on the matter.