"The Department of Labour received 17 applications to terminate employment. There had been three applications for temporary layoffs but they had been withdrawn by the companies," he said.

The official figure of 32,000 had been gauged from the terminations that had gone through the department but a large number of terminations have taken place without the involvement of the Department of Labour.

"There have been about 70 cases where employers and employees have been able to negotiate terminations on their own," Wijeweera said.

He urged employers to resolve terminations on their own given the lack of resources of the Labour Department to intervene and conclude negotiations and approve terminations without consuming too much time.

"We will try our best to provide approvals within three weeks but we urge employers to first talk to their employees," he said.

Wijeweera said the Labour Department would also ask some companies to place a deposit with the department.

"This is done just in case employers go against our decision to retain their workers," he said.

The National Labour Advisory Commission, comprising government, employer and employee representatives have concluded that since the labour laws do not allow a five day work week with an extension of an hour without over time payments, companies will have to present their case individually.

"It is purely an administrative decision," Wijeweera said.

No safety net…

There are criticisms that Sri Lanka’s labour laws are too rigid and archaic but analysts say without adequate social security there is little option but continue with the pro-labour laws.