adminMasline Mavudzi Harare Bureau
Zimpost has fired almost 200 workers, taking advantage of the recent Supreme Court judgment that empowered employers to fire workers after giving them three months’ notice.
The state enterprise joined several companies that have also dismissed employees using the same judgment.
Sources at Zimpost said 200 employees were sent packing but the company’s managing director Douglas Zimbango, yesterday put the figure at 136.
He said the affected employees included contract workers, while others were forced to take early retirement packages.
“The letters (three months’ notices) were only given to 136 employees,” said Zimbango.
“Amongst these, 61 were on contract and their contracts were not renewed. Another 50 affected employees were above 55 years of age and were given early retirements and they are going to receive their packages and pensions.”
Zimbango said the dismissal of the employees was largely necessitated by technological advancements in the postal sector, which did not allow them to accommodate large numbers of workers.
He urged some of the affected employees to engage into franchise business using the Zimpost logo.
In the event that the economy stabilised, Zimbango said, such people would be given first preference for employment.
“We have encouraged our employees to run franchise business in technical aspects that are in line with postal business,” he said.
“Those are the people who we will consider first for employment if the economy stabilises,” he said.
The firing of workers by Zimpost comes at a time when the Labour Bill that seeks to protect employees from unilateral dismissals by employers has sailed in the National Assembly and is set to be read in the Senate today.
Clause 5 of the Bill says those who lose jobs on contract termination are entitled to minimum retrenchment benefits that include one month salary for every two years of service.
This will apply to both retrenchees in general and workers whose contracts were terminated on or after July 17.
Section 12 (4a) prohibits employers from terminating an employment contract on notice unless such termination is in terms of an employment or model code.
It also makes termination possible where both parties mutually agree in writing, or if the employee was engaged for a fixed period. Workers with open-ended contracts and whose employment is terminated in terms of subsection 4(a) will be eligible for compensation.
Since the July 17 Supreme Court ruling, labour unions argued that more than 20,000 workers had lost their jobs.
Online Reporter