admincarried out by The Herald last week revealed that workers in the mining and transport sector were set to be the worst affected.
Some employers in the retail sector have promised workers half their salaries as bonus, while others will have to achieve set sales target to receive bonuses.
Workers in the security sector can also expect to sing the blues as their employers traditionally do not pay bonuses.
Employees of local authorities are still uncertain as to whether they will get a thirteenth cheque, with some of them owed salary arrears.
Zimbabwe Federation of Trade Unions president Mr Alfred Makwarimba yesterday said that employers do not have a right to refuse workers their annual bonus.
“Since time immemorial, workers receive their bonuses in November and employers can’t suddenly renege from the commitment,” he said.
He said exemptions could only be entertained from economically distressed companies, or those under new management seeking to revive production.
“Most of the complaints we’ve received are from the transport and mining sectors. One wonders how a sector like mining would fail to pay annual bonuses, when they are the backbone of the economy.”
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions secretary general Mr Japhet Moyo lamented that Collective Bargaining Agreements between workers and employers did not have a clause for mandatory payment of annual bonus.
“The trend has always been the paying of bonus to workers being discussed at company level.”
Mr Moyo said they had raised the issue with the Employers Confederation of Zimbabwe who were non-committal.
He reiterated that bonuses should be paid to all workers as a token of appreciation for services rendered during the course of the year and loyalty.
However, the picture is not all bleak with some workers saying that they have been assured of a windfall before the end of the year.
Unconfirmed reports indicate that the banking sector will be paying bonuses.
A number of workers in the productive sector said that they had also been assured of bonus payments though they are still to learn of the exact percentages.
The Government, which is the largest employer in the country announced that civil servants would be getting their bonuses and these are traditionally paid out in November and December.
Online Reporter