adminDumisani Nsingo in Victoria Falls
THE Institute of People Management of Zimbabwe (IPMZ) is advocating for the quick amendment of the Labour Act into an “investor-friendly legislation” so as to ensure a turnaround of the country’s economy.In an interview on the sidelines of IPMZ’s annual convention and exhibition in Victoria Falls last week, the institution’s president, Mr Marshall Pemhiwa said the Labour Act had certain provisions that needed amendment in order to bring it in line with existing trends and international best practice.
“The amendments must make Zimbabwe an investor-friendly country. It must recognise the interests of the investor, the need for flexibility. Of course this is not to mean that you trample on the rights of workers.
“The rights of workers must and should be protected. The Labour Act must balance between prescription and negotiation. Some issues require prescription to avoid pile-up at courts,” Mr Pemhiwa said.
He said retrenchment payments should be laid down by law as it is in South Africa and other countries to ease planning and predictability.
“This will ensure that employers no longer face the risk of militancy and elaborate, never ending discussions on package. Secondly, the payment thereof of no more than two weeks would be appropriate.
“Zimbabwe can pay top end of six months per year served, majority at around two to three months. This makes disengagement difficult. Employers thus delay the pain and eventually literally run away in some instances,” Mr Pemhiwa said.
The other reforms being advocated for by IPMZ are that a minimum notice period of three months for permanent employees should be reduced to one month and notice periods for contracts altered accordingly with longer notice periods being by agreement.
In his keynote address at the convention Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Cde Goche said labour legislation must contribute to the development of sustainable enterprises and achievement of socio-economic goals.
“The thrust of the ongoing Labour law reform process is to achieve the broad developmental objectives as elaborated in the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio Economic Transformation (Zim Asset). The developmental aspects of Zim Asset are anchored on indigenisation, empowerment and employment creation, with an explicit target of 2,2 million new jobs by the year 2018.
“For this employment target to be achieved, trade-offs will have to be made between Government, business and labour. While the Labour legislation will continue to play its redistributive and protective role, it will have to specifically respond to the need to create an enabling environment for sustainable enterprises and economic turnaround,” Cde Goche said.
He said the call by the business sector to relax various provisions in the laws was synonymous with a weakening of the rights and welfare of workers.
He said the country had achieved tremendous progress, since 1980, in promoting and advancing workers’ rights at law, while at the same time achieving remarkable relaxation of certain provisions in the legislation. Previous legislative reforms on collective bargaining, dispute settlement and misconduct handling were examples of such progress.
“The standpoint of labour law making should be based on an understanding that the fate of employers and workers is similar. No one side can perpetually profit at the expense of the other.”
He said as the nation moves ahead with Labour law reform, it should be the expectation of both business and labour that some costs will be suffered across the broad, just as the benefits should be for all.
“Genuine investors would appreciate that a country that has robust labour protections should coincidentally have equally robust protections for its business’ operating environment. It is not in our interest to devalue certain principles and fundamentals to attract cheap and unscrupulous investment from certain quarters.
“Sustainable Foreign Direct Investment cannot require us to devalue our welfare standards. After all, a higher welfare standard for our workers immediately transforms into a higher living standard for our nation . . .,” Minister Goche said.
Online Reporter