adminDavies Ndumiso Sibanda
SINCE October 2014 when the Ministry of Local Government instructed local authorities to reduce salaries, there have been both formal and informal disputes over compliance and legality of the decision such that salaries have been unilaterally cut leaving many employees unhappy and others taking to the courts.
What we must understand is that an employment contract between an employer and an employee is consummated in terms of the Labour Laws of Zimbabwe and both employers and employees have to respect their contractual obligations. While the employment contract is unique in that not all its components remain static, some parts change with time, economic, environmental and social changes but the way the contract is changed cannot be unilaterally done by one party.
There has been an outcry from the public that Local Government salaries were obnoxious thus the ministry intervened to create a measure of sanity. There’s a distinction between what is morally right and what is legally correct and as such a mere letter cannot be used to reduce people’s salaries and no amounts of threats can diminish their legal rights that are protected by The Constitution.
Public policy is not as easy to prove as people think. There are several stringent tests that the courts will apply in order to establish whether the salaries are inconsistent with public policy. Further, judges will perform a delicate balancing act whereby they maintain a measure of fairness for citizens whose civil liberties are being overridden by public interest. For that reason, I can foresee a number of complex litigation cases that are related to reduction of salaries and it takes one employee succeeding to open flood gates and Judges are unlikely to apply the flood gates principle given the fact that the order to reduce salaries was blanket and did not take into consideration the individualised nature and complexity of employment contracts.
For example, there is a need to inquire into how the salaries got there, what the agreement say, what policies and procedures say and custom and practice and above all the law governing awarding and variation of those salaries.
Already we have seen some local authorities being successful in their opposition to the reduction of salaries. This is obviously disturbing given the fact that the salary arrears will have to be borne by rate payers.
A workable solution for both parties would be to accept that things were not done correctly and work out a durable plan for reducing salaries where there is a need just as the private sector is doing it through consultation and agreement with employees. Having been involved in salary reduction negotiations for managerial employees in many organisations, I have discovered that managerial employees are not as unreasonable as people think. Once facts are laid bare, revenue inflows are shown, operating costs and other related costs are shown to employees, they will agree to salary and benefits reduction.
The only thing they usually do is to negotiate for periodic review of the situation, preservation of certain critical benefits such as Medical Aid, children’s fees and the percentage reduction. I believe Local Government could use a similar approach to manage disgruntlement and ward off possible litigation which could sour relations and expose local authorities to possible open ended liability.
In conclusion, it is my belief that dialogue and negotiation over salary reduction is a win-win approach which Local Government and Local Authorities should engage in so as to protect rate payers from the risk of related litigation costs.
Davies Ndumiso Sibanda can be contacted on: email: [email protected], Or cell No: 0772 375 235
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