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Felex Share Harare Bureau—
THE government yesterday resolved to amend the Labour Act expeditiously to stem the inconsistencies in the labour market which have seen companies sacking employees willy-nilly and almost empty handed on the basis of a recent Supreme Court judgment. The ruling delivered on Friday indicated that firms could terminate contracts of employment upon issuing three months’ notice without offering an explanation or following the retrenchment route.
Public Service, Labour and Social Services Minister Prisca Mupfumira told journalists in Harare that while the Supreme Court judges were “correctly and appropriately” guided by the law, companies should exercise maximum restraint in terminating workers’ contracts.
“To this end, the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare has been tasked to coordinate the process which should result in the expeditious tabling in Parliament of an amendment Bill to the Labour Act,” she said.
“Meanwhile, the government appeals to the employers to exercise maximum restraint in terminating contracts of employment on notice, pursuant to the Supreme Court ruling.”
This comes as more companies yesterday continued sacking people using the same judgment.
Minister Mupfumira said the government had looked at the labour laws and concluded that they needed amendment in the shortest possible time. “It was satisfied that the (Supreme Court) bench was correctly and appropriately guided by the law as it stands, noting that the law falls short of a harmonious balance between the interests of the employer and those of the employee,” she said.
Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku, sitting with four other judges on Friday last week unanimously agreed that the common law position placing employees and employers on an equal footing was still operational.
They were deciding a case in which two former Zuva Petroleum managers, Don Nyamande and Kingstone Donga, were challenging termination of their contracts under the same circumstances.
As a result of that common law position, employers have the same right to give notice and terminate employment, in as much as a worker can do the same.
The judgment empowers employers to fire workers without going through disciplinary hearings or seeking permission for formal retrenchment.
Minister Mupfumira said while the government did not have the actual number of people sent packing since last Friday, it had engaged social partners in the spirit of tripartism with a view to bring normalcy to the labour market.
Online Reporter