Harmonisation of Labour Laws

followed a meeting between the chairperson of the Public Service Commission and the then Minister of Labour and Social Services.
The understanding reached was that the Public Service Act Chapter 16:04 was to be amended to give effect to the principles of the key International Labour Organisation conventions.
This was in particular the fundamental or core conventions ratified in Zimbabwe.
At the same time, the Ministry responsible for labour administration was to ensure that the Labour Act is also reviewed in the wake of the comments from ILO.
However, nothing was done in respect of those decisions. The subsequent promulgation of the Health Services Act (Chapter 15:16) removed the civil servants in the health sector from the ambit of the PSC.
This means the Act should also be revisited with a view to giving effect to the principles contained in the relevant ILO conventions ratified in Zimbabwe.
By implication, the same principles are supposed to be effected to the legislation which governs industrial relations for the magisterial and other court officials, which now fall under the ambit of the Judicial Service Commission. The central and fundamental aspect is to ensure that the principles embodied in the core ILO Conventions ratified in Zimbabwe are taken on board in all legislation governing labour and employment in Zimbabwe. Between 2002 and 2008, the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Recommendations and Conventions (CEARC) and the International Labour Conference Committee on the Application of Labour Standards have been making recommendations to Zimbabwe. They have urged the Government to ensure that its labour legislation fully complies with the principles of the core conventions.
With the advent of the inclusive Government in 2009, the issue of harmonisation of labour laws became part of the 100-Day Government Working Plan.
The Ministries of Labour and Public Service were mandated to spearhead the labour law reform process with the harmonisation of the labour laws being a priority.
The 2009 ILO Commission of Inquiry on the observance of the ILO Conventions on the Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining in Zimbabwe came to the same conclusion on the need for labour laws to be in line with the Conventions in question.
The Government of Zimbabwe accepted the recommendations arising from the findings of the Commission of Inquiry.
Several tripartite consultations within the auspices of the Labour Advisory Council and through tripartite workshops have taken place culminating in the drafting of 12 principles.
These include the establishment of an independent dispute resolution system. An autonomous body funded by the Government shall be established to administer conciliation and arbitration of labour disputes outside the bureaucratic arrangement of Government.
The Ministry of Labour will have the role of providing policy direction and general oversight over administration of the body.
The objective is to enhance effective and expeditious resolution of labour disputes.
This scenario will enhance Zimbabwe’s compliance with principles of ILO Convention 81 on labour inspection.
Officers who will remain with the Ministry will be charged with the responsibility of supervising labour market institutions and carrying out labour inspections.
This comes against a backdrop of observations made by ILO CEARC that conciliation and arbitration duties obstruct effective discharge of the primary duties conferred to labour inspectors.
This set-up also necessitates the revision of the duties of labour officers provided in the Act.
A transitional mechanism shall be put in place in the event of foreseen delays in the establishment and funding of new structures. The other draft principle for harmonisation of labour laws is the full domestication of the principles enshrined in the ILO core and ratified conventions.
The Government of Zimbabwe has ratified 26 ILO Conventions. The first eight are core Conventions, which deal with fundamental rights of workers.
These instruments apply to all category of workers save for Conventions 98 and 87 which do not apply to disciplined forces.
The Government has an obligation arising from ratification of the Conventions to ensure that Zimbabwe complies both in practice and in law with the principles of the core and ratified ILO Conventions.
The ILO CEARC has examined our legislation covering all categories of workers and observed inadequacies and certain sections that are not in conformity with the principles of both the ratified and core Conventions.
It was also further noted that principles of some of the ratified Conventions have not been incorporated into our legislation.
The various pieces of legislation governing employment relationships covering all workers except members of the disciplined forces have to be accordingly amended in order to fully comply and give effect to the principles of all ratified Conventions.
This also entails taking on board the comments made by the ILO CEARC regarding the application of ratified Conventions in Zimbabwe.
The principles of Convention 140 on Paid Educational shall be incorporated into the Labour Act through the inclusion of paid educational leave on the list of areas for collective bargaining agreements.
The other draft principle is mitigation of the plight of non-managerial employees in the context of company closures and liquidation.
Workers in various sectors of the economy have not been fairly compensated in situations of company closures. These include workers whose companies were liquidated, as their plight is only considered after other creditors have been paid.
In many situations, there will be very little if any resources left to cater for the workers including the payment of statutory or contractual entitlements of the workers concerned. The other draft principles are strengthening the protection of casual workers and protection of workers in disguised employment relationships.
Streamlining mechanisms to deal with collective job action and review of Ministerial powers and those of the Labour Court on collective job action, is the other draft principle. Redefining the concept of work of equal value in line with what is provided for in ILO Convention No. 100, and the introduction of non-discrimination provisions in the legislation covering the public service in line with Convention 111 (Discrimination and Occupation) 1958, has also not been overlooked.