The report, DDPR Director, Mr. 'Mabathoana Khotle, said between the first three months, since the institution came into operation, it has completed 544 cases where employees were complaining of their employers. "There were disputes of right ranging from claims of underpayments, claimsof wages for overtime worked but not paid, claims of wages in lieu of notice, claims of severance payment, to claims of unfair dismissal," he added.

He stated that DDPR resolves disputes through the two processes of conciliation and arbitration, saying out of the 544 disputes received, 366 were heard at the end of March, while some were settled by conciliation and others were resolved by arbitration. "All disputes must first go through the process of conciliation before they can be arbitrated or adjudicated," he stressed. Mr. Khotle, pointed out that there were cases where respondents failed to attend the proceedings, which made it impossible to conciliate such disputes.

He stated that as an attempt to prevent trade disputes at workplaces, DDPR has distributed information Bulletin to social partners throughout the country, during every two weeks, saying the aim of the Bulletin is to provide advice to employers and employees about the best means of prevention and resolution of trade disputes at source.

The Director, noted that the institution would also train employees,Personnel Managers, Supervisors, Workers Representatives and Shop stewards as well as trade union officials, under the auspices of the International
Labour Organization (ILO) or Swiss project.

The aim, he added, is to equip participants with relevant knowledge that will assist both employers and workers to prevent and resolve their own disputes at workplaces and said the target is to train 400 persons drawn from various industries before the end of the year.

In a brief interview a representative of FLDU, Mrs 'Makatleho Nyabela said as workers' representatives, they are satisfied by the way DDPR is resolving disputes between employers and employees. She said, DDPR will likely to reduce strikes and by so doing will improve workers and employers working relationships and eventually increase
production in the country.

DDPR started operating officially in January this year taking over from the Ministry of Labour and Employment, which has been responsible for arbitration and reconciling employers with employees