Conditions must be set for termination of workers contract - Chikwinya

Former MDC-T legislator Settlement Chikwinya has said there are three conditions which must be set before the termination of workers' contracts could be effected as per the order passed by the Supreme Court Bench.

Chikwinya said seeing to it that employers have began to have a Dogs breakfast on workers after the pronouncement of the judgement of Don Nyamande & Kingstone Gonga vs Zuva Petroleum Pvt Ltd, my proposed forward is that a fast and fair position can be reached by enactment of a statutory instrument that specifically addresses conditions which an employment contract may be terminated.

"Three  conditions then need to be specified in that SI. 1- Termination of contract after a expiry of a fixed term of contract. 2- Termination of contract upon Mutual Agreement between employer and employee. 3- Termination upon breach of code of conduct. I will deal more with option 2 as option 1 and 3 are adequately covered in the current Labour Act," he said. 

"Option 2 in the current labour Act does not give provision for MUTUAL consent, meaning one party may tender notice of termination and the other party has no right to disagree and this is what the Supreme court has upheld. By providing for Mutual consent in the SI the minister then gives the parties to pursue negotiations for an exit package if they had not reached consensus."

He said the TNF as it deliberated on the amendments to the Labour Act had already established the principle of a minimum package for compensation for job loss.

"The amendments to the ACT as contained in the last draft of 4 June 2015 capture this spirit by insertion of sec12(C)(1) (a) to (f). I shall share sec 12(C)(1)(a) and (f) which reads" he said.

"The works councill shall set a minimum retrenchment package as compensation for loss of employment which shall apply to all subsequent retrenchments" sec 12(C)(1)(f) reads" When making a decision for retrenchment the following factors should be considered(1) ability to pay (2)length of service(3) relocation(4) security of remaining employees."

Chikwinya said in doing so the Minister would be in full compliance of labour conventions as set by the ILO taking note that The International Labour Organisation (ILO) (Termination of Employment at the Initiative of the Employer Convention 158 of 1982) sets minimum requirements of substantial and procedural fairness for retrenchment to qualify as a fair dismissal.

"I place my debate around retrenchment since the root cause of the ZUVA case emanated from a dispute around retrenchment package and the employer then decided to use the termination by notice," he said.