Labour Law: Dilemma of new employers

labour sectors. Labour unions vigorously fought the then unsuitable working conditions and with the help of government and parliamentarians managed to craft labour laws which fairly represented the working population of all industries in the country.
Currently our labour laws are being praised and hailed in the entire region for they give an employee a fair deal in case of labour disputes.
What is of interest now is most of emerging employers in the country are the very same people who fought the then dominant white employers for better working conditions.
The dilemma which has now caught the new emerging employers is the realisation that they are now in the shoes of the former white employers.
They are no longer employees but employers. The near collapse of Zimbabwe industries in the mid 2000s, economic woes of 2008 compounded by formation of the unity government and the introduction of multi currencies in the economy in 2009 ushered the new players in the Zimbabwe business.
As the country was bleeding from the economic situation of 2008, black and indigenous business minded people capitalised on the situation and started to fill the gap left by most white employers.
Small and medium companies started to mushroom. Most employees of these companies were relatives who were employed as strategic means of helping fellow family members if things were to change for the worst. Up to early 2011 skill was not a requisite for employment.
Because skill was not necessarily an attribute to employment, the emerging employers adopted a culture of hiring and firing which is still prevalent in most small and medium business sectors today.
Farming, retail and hotel and catering are the main culprits. Politics and judicial connections are weapons used by emerging employers to ill-treat, threaten and silence hardworking employees.
Most of these emerging employers I have met in Harare are expressing ignorance of the labour laws of their industry.
Those who are aware are mourning on the unfairness of the current labour laws. Almost 70 percent of the emerging businessmen and women I met and talked with last month expressed the view that the Zimbabwe Labour laws favour the employees.
What is of interest is that when the new employers were employees themselves, they highly praised them.
One even had the temerity to say, “We helped and facilitated to create these laws because the employers were white”.
It is with this in mind that most current employers had never envisaged themselves to be employers.
The position they find themselves in today is by chance. The sooner they realise that they are now employers no matter what size of the business, the laws should be abided by. The question to ask is:
What should the emerging employers do if they want to grow their businesses?
There are four things which should be done:
l Bring professionalism to business. This is done by first taking employees as assets rather than as expenses. Assets are something you invest in. One indisputable fact is that frontline workers, those who interact daily with customers, know the customers the best. They’re the most familiar with the processes in place and have solid and perceptive ideas about how to improve them.
Unfortunately, managers have been trained to think they are supposed to know all the answers.
They don’t. Many organisations have missed the point. Some act as if they can treat employees badly (especially now, when the sluggish economy prevents them from going anywhere else), and then expect these same employees, miraculously, to treat customers with quality class service.
l Take an interest in Zimbabwe Labour Laws: As new employers find someone within the organisation or outside who is knowledgeable on the country’s labour laws. These can be in the inform of a consultant, HR practitioner to deal with your employment matters
l Customarise your Code of Conduct: Depending on which sector your business falls under, for example-Hotel and Catering. Visit the union. Get a copy of their Code of Conduct. Incorporate it into your own policy and procedure document
lAs emerging employers lobby the parliamentarians: Although this might take a longer time, as emerging business employers use one voice to lobby the MPs, Senators and Ministers responsible to change the laws especially on areas which you think the laws are too punitive or do not suit the current situation.