Stakeholders welcome amendment of Labour Act

Deal sealed..Labour Amendment Bill becomes law | The Chronicle

Workers unions and labour experts have welcomed the amendment of the Labour Act, which is set to remove unfair labour practices by employers, as a progressive development.

The Labour Amendment Act gives employees a voice against arbitrary dismissals and unfair labour practices.

"The act has progressive provisions to do with termination of notice. This will go a long way in protecting workers from unfair practices. I think everyone remembers the ZUVA judgement which left the majority of workers jobless so in this case, employees will be allowed to dialogue with employers,” said Zimbabwe Confederation of Public Sector Union secretary-general, Professor David Dzatsunga.

“This is a welcome development. We have been lobbying for the issue of child labour because most of the time these children will be at work at a time they should be at school,” said Zimbabwe Teachers Association chief executive officer, Dr Sifiso Ndlovu.

The legal fraternity also weighed in saying the development will bring relief to employees, with labour experts unpacking the repealed sections.

"This a welcome development because this will give workers or employees the opportunity to air out their views in regards to the contract. Before this, workers were dismissed without her contribution," said a legal expert, Mr Brighton Sadovera.

"Let’s delve into Section 12 which speaks of duration particulars and termination of the Employment Contract of Principals Act is amended. So this means that workers are relieved from being dismissed on notice. It means that the two are going to have a dialogue. On retrenchment and compensation for loss of employment on retrenchment means capacity to pay," another legal expert, Mr Cosam Gohori, added.

The new Labour Act also curbs child labour by increasing the maximum penalty for a person found guilty of engaging in child labour, with the maximum sentence raised from two to ten years.

It also removes the qualifying time and the number of times maternity leave is granted, contrary to the previous one where maternity leave was granted for 98 days on full pay to a female employee who had served for at least one year and limited the number of periods of such leave to three by any one employer.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa assented to the law on Thursday after its passage in Parliament.

In 2015, employees’ contracts were terminated under the infamous Zuva Judgement which saw thousands of workers being fired on three months’ notice without their consent.