Companies ignore new labour amendments

Gabriel Masvora and Roberta Katunga Business Reporters
THE new Labour Amendment Act is not in sync with some of the provisions in the country’s constitution and industry can approach the Constitutional Court seeking an interpretation which might result in companies engaging in a second round of contract terminations without benefits, an official has said. This comes at a time when the more than 25 000 workers who were fired after the 17 July ruling by the Supreme Court, which gave employers the right to terminate contracts on three months’ notice without benefits, have not yet received money as stated in the amended labour law.

The amended law, which came into effect in August jolted employers after it stated that workers must be paid packages equivalent to two weeks salary for every year served and it must apply to those who were dismissed after the 17 July ruling.

It further stated that employers must pay up no later than the date when the notice of termination took effect meaning most employers are already lagging behind as they should have paid long back.

However, Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce president Mr Davison Norupiri told captains of industry attending the business organisation’s Bulawayo Chapter’s Meet The Sponsors Sundowner at a hotel in the city last week that the amended law was not yet aligned to the new constitution.

“There are a lot of laws which are still to be aligned to the new constitution and the Labour Law is one of them. It might just take one company to approach the Constitutional Court for interpretation and this might result in another ruling which might result in more job cuts,” he said.

Mr Norupiri, however, said there was need for business, Government and workers to sit down and evaluate what was on the ground and work together to come up with a win-win situation.

“What is needed now is to sit down among all the parties so that they can come up with a win-win situation,” he said.
This comes as labour unions have reported that no company has started even paying those that were retrenched after the 17 July ruling.
They said they have also noted that there were legal minefields in the new law hence cannot quickly approach the courts to force companies to pay.

Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions secretary-general Mr Japhet Moyo said the union had started receiving reports that companies were disputing the amendment that took away the right of the employer to terminate contracts.

“Employers are reluctant to initiate the recalling and paying of people because of the loophole in the legislation. Our members have been visiting various premises and being told that the issue is still under discussion by management,” said Mr Moyo.

He said as a trade union they had not seen the benefits of the amendment as no one has been compensated by employers.
Mr Moyo said it was their hope that the labour issue and standoff between employers and employees would be resolved without legal hassles.

“We are trying to test the legality of the new law hence we have been advising those who were unfairly dismissed to report to a labour office or National Employment Council (NEC) as stipulated by the amended act,” he said.

Zimbabwe Federation of Trade Unions secretary for Economic Affairs Mr Jacob Rice said employers were taking a wait and see attitude due to a situation he termed legal minefields. Mr Rice added that employers were reluctant to pay workers their dues.

“There are a lot of unresolved issues when it comes to this Act and it is mainly because the timing was all wrong as it had been long overdue. People had already lost jobs and it is no longer an issue of employers against workers but adopting and adjusting the cost of doing business in the country, so as to attract investors and improve the economy,” he said.
Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries president Mr Busisa Moyo said the situation in many companies showed that many companies will not be able to pay the required benefits.
He said funding was not available as companies do not have extra reserves as they are struggling with capacity.

“Some companies could not even afford to pay the three months’ notice salaries and that is a reality that is being ignored. Current salaries are a struggle, some companies are nine months behind in wages and this includes parastatals.

They just don’t have money to pay retrenchments,” said Mr Moyo.
He said although employers understood the plight of workers, it was not a lack of will to apply the law but a failure to do so.

“It is now a matter of either reinstating the dismissed workers or paying them cash but some people are not interested in being reinstated and companies are not able to pay which leaves us with an impasse,” he said.