adminThe Labour Relations Act (Amendment) Bill — as gazetted — will surely raise a forest of questions that will remain unanswered if looked at from different socio-economic angles with regards to its content.
Edmore Mudavanhu
As it stands now, business and labour have to invest in a great deal of patience to review the labour law reforms and ensure their adequacy for their constituencies.
This is necessary as it can help plug legal loopholes, making way for another round of amendments.
The Tripartite Negotiating Forum partners — Government, labour and business — need to expeditiously review and discuss their respective concerns.
Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Prisca Mupfumira is going to table the Bill in Parliament.
The result will be a legal product, which, I hope, will be a paragon of perfection through cross-fertilisation of tripartite concerns and policy-makers’ contributions.
Additionally, we hope the crafting or drafting of the Labour Bill was done against regional and global benchmarks, which will stand us in good stead, especially on business competitiveness, employees’ survival and the national economy at large.
If that stage had not been done, the TNF can still work on it beyond the current set of amendments.
Government called on employers to “exercise restraint” in dealing with mass termination of employment on notice.
The Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries echoed the same sentiments to its member companies.
Employers were under pressure to cut costs, hence they utilised the opportunity provided by the Supreme Court ruling.
The Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce predicted more job losses by virtue of companies’ incapacity to sustain both employees’ and production costs, among other challenges coming with this deflationary environment.
More retrenchments are likely to happen as companies will still need capital injection and new markets beyond cost-cutting measures.
They need to replace old machinery, fund training, motivate existing staff, fund production and penetrate new markets.
Legislative changes such as productivity-linked salaries or wages; retrenchment; terminal benefits; downsizing; labour market flexibility; the arbitration awards system and hiring and firing will all need further review by TNF partners to ensure they strategically serve their constituents’ interests and a sustainable economic environment.
Reverence should still be given to the interplay of complex interests among Government, labour and business.
We hope the Bill will not feature opportunities for selective application and multiple interpretation of legislative provisions.
A comprehensive outline of statutes to the public will clear the mist in understanding it and avoiding ambiguities in interpretation.
With such a hybrid legal product catering for all tripartite interests, Zimbabwe will prosper by leaps and bounds, albeit the Labour Act review is a micro-solution within a macro-economic problem.
The TNF should come up with strong recommendations in light of current events and outline their respective expectations for future amendments.
This is necessary to avoid a repeat of the Labour Court and Supreme Court rulings, which have taken advantage of legal loopholes.
It is with such commonality of purpose and complementarity of interests that a win-win scenario is envisaged.
Government is still skating on thin ice due to its dual mandate of being a legislator and an employer at the same time.
The Labour Act reforms will provide a mindset change in all tripartite partners; making it known that success is hinged on a holistic approach, not plucking off the feathers of the problem.
The Labour Act review should come with strict adherence and actualisation of legal instruments in the spirit of tripartism. According to Greek philosopher Heraclitus, “Change is the only constant in life”.
Therefore, the outcome should either be for the better or for worse. But all the same, change has to be embraced.
Interventions are always necessary after the change to ensure sustainability.
A package of cutting edge interventions has been lined up for Government, employers and employees.
Government has plugged the legal loophole so that employer-employee relations return to normal.
Government’s position — business interests and labour’s survival concerns should be accorded due veneration as much as they are valid and genuine.
Edmore Mudavanhu is a Harare-based human resources expert and the convenor of the bi-annual Business and Labour Symposium
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter