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THERE is widespread fear, consternation and shock following a landmark Supreme Court ruling last Friday which effectively gave employers a blank cheque to fire workers by simply giving them three months notice without a package before terminating their contracts. What the judgment handed down by Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku, sitting with four other judges in a matter involving two former Zuva Petroleum managers Don Nyamande and Kingstone Donga, did was to open the floodgates of redundancies throughout the country at a time when the economy is performing badly and employers are desperate to downsize and reduce the cost of labour.
The import of the Supreme Court judgment is that it has left workers exposed and vulnerable to the whims and caprices of employers. Already, before the ink has even dried on the controversial judgment, companies have begun summarily issuing out notices to employees advising them of the termination of their contracts.
A classic case of the abuse of the judgment, which has effectively amended the Labour Act and skewed it in favour of employers, is that of 46 workers at TN Harlequin Luxaire Ltd in Bulawayo, who as we reported elsewhere on these pages, were sent notices advising them of the termination of their contracts, just a few hours after the judgment was handed down in Harare on Friday. TN bosses could hardly wait to offload their workforce with some employees getting their notices at their homes after they had knocked off.
We reported yesterday that the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Prisca Mupfumira, said the judgment had opened a floodgate of termination of employment on notice and they had already received several reports of people being sent packing a few hours after the ruling. She said the government would take action and settle for corrective legal options with the judiciary and employers to stop sacking employees willy nilly and empty-handed. “There is definitely need to settle on corrective legal options to safeguard the worker as the ministry is already receiving numerous complaints from workers whose contracts of employment have been terminated on notice since the court ruling,” she said.
“Evidently, the judgment has opened a floodgate of termination of employment on notice, resulting in numerous workers unfairly losing their jobs. My ministry is analysing the consequences of the judgment and will take action accordingly.”
Laying off workers in that way, Minister Mupfumira said, should be stopped, insisting that there should be a balance between the interests of the employee and employer.
She added: “While we note the Supreme Court ruling, it has negative implications as it now leaves employees at the mercy of employers in that there is no longer room for negotiation even after long service.” We agree with her.
In their reasoning, the Supreme Court judges agreed that the common law position placing employers and employees on an equal footing was still operational. As a result of that common law position, employers have the same right to give notice and terminate employment in as much as workers can do the same. The judgment empowers employers to fire workers without even going through disciplinary hearings.
While employers will no doubt applaud this judgment because it gives them power to literally do as they please, workers are now at the mercy of their bosses. The flaw in the common law position is that it places both parties on an equal footing when their relationship is inherently skewed in favour of the employer. It is precisely this unequal relationship which necessitated the labour legislation in Zimbabwe and elsewhere and we implore the Tripartite Negotiating Forum to act quickly to find common ground and stop this frenzy of redundancies.
Parliament also has to fast track the Labour Law review and ensure that the amended Act has adequate safety nets protecting the rights of workers. There is a need for balance and while we accept that it is not easy to satisfy both parties, a compromise can be reached.
We appreciate that Zimbabwe’s labour laws were too rigid and went a bit over the top in trying to protect the rights of workers but the Supreme Court judgment has virtually swung the pendulum in the opposite direction and instead of striking a balance, it has weakened workers and placed all the power in the hands of bosses.
Zimbabwe needs investment and to do this, it must relax its labour laws, a process already underway. But the Supreme Court judgment has left employees completely vulnerable and at the mercy of bosses, especially vindictive ones. The country’s laws should protect the weak and prevent abuse of power at the workplace but the nation’s highest court may have opened a can of worms.
Online Reporter