Labour bill in parliament

Debate on the much-awaited Labour Amendment Bill, which seeks to repeal common law provisions that have been used by employers to fire workers on three months' notice starts in Parliament today, as analysts expressed mixed feelings over the Bill.

Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Prisca Mupfumira confirmed she will present the Bill in the National Assembly today.

Employers Confederation of Zimbabwe chief executive officer John Mufukare said they would meet today to come up with a position on the Bill.
 
meanwhile, children under 18 years will no longer be eligible for employment under the proposed Labour Amendment Act as Government seeks to curb child exploitation by aligning the law to the new Constitution.

Section 81 (1) of the new Constitution defines a child as every boy or girl under the age of 18 years.

As such, the proposed amendments have raised the minimum age under which children can be employed even for apprenticeship. Section 11 of the Labour Amendment Act that was gazetted last week states that: "This clause sets out the minimum age in which a young person may engage in work as 16 years in terms of the Labour Act (Chapter 28:01) and the Manpower Planning and Development Act (Chapter 28:02).