Employers need a re-think on termination of workers contracts

The recent events leading to massive laying-off of workers on the labour front seem to be receiving full backing of the relevant laws. In spite the legality of these aspects, it is prudent that we look at the other side of the coin to serve our declining economy from further slump into the social abyss.

The obtaining events, after the court ruling have led to impulsive firing of employees who probably could have been perceived as extra baggage by some companies. The Supreme Court judgment spurred termination of employment contracts for thousands of manpower in less than a fortnight. No-one knows what is in store for the other workers in a few months to come but surely, no employee is safe anymore.
Thousands of workers have been thrown onto the street to join the band wagon of the unemployed unexpectedly as employers based their decisions and actions on the precedent case of a landmark ruling that was handed down by the Supreme Court over the fired Zuva Petroleum managers that claimed they were unfairly dismissed.

The fired workers are quite unfortunate and, while the remaining lot may empathise with their counter-parts that are flushed out unjustly, the morale of the generality of the workforce at various organisations has been greatly compromised. The workforce may in turn adopt go-slow tactics or such related counter-productive measures that impact negatively on productivity. This has the direct bearing of accelerating recession in an ailing economy like ours, whose impact may not be visible to an ordinary eye. Nonetheless the consequences that this portends are too ghastly to contemplate.

In the meantime, the axe is still looming and the dagger is still behind the cloak as even those that are still contracted are not really aware when they may be shown the door. This uncertainty creates some vibes, which impact on production as no employee would engage their full energies in an organisation perceived as insensitive to their welfare, such as terminating service at three months notice without benefits. The effect of the current turbulence creates a lack of a sense of responsibility and belonging by the workforce.

While employers are deriving some short term gratifications in firing people, sending them home empty handed, they are also shooting themselves in the foot. Workers have the capacity to connive and disrupt the normal functioning of any organisation if they are badly treated, and when they are aware that they are going away forever. They may feel that they have nothing to lose. This therefore, demands that companies exercise restraint to ensure a win-win situation and avert such possible dire consequences.

On the other hand, it is crystal clear that the legal framework governing the labour market in Zimbabwe has some gapping loopholes, which are being exploited to the detriment of the workers' welfare. The courts are doing a brilliant job of interpreting the laws correctly as enacted by the legislature.

To rescue this desperate situation, the Parliament is under mandatory obligation to have an urgent re-look into the statutory instruments that have a bearing on labour matters in the country. The laws should be re-aligned to cater for the normative expectations of workers and society at large in order to mitigate the negative effects suffered by employees. Workers are losing their life-time investment and rendered destitute over-night, and they feel robbed of their labour by this exploitative environment created by the vast array of laws which do not protect their rights against the capitalistic employers who are solely driven by maximization of their profits.

The laws should be written in specific terms which are not ambiguous to avoid the embarrassment caused by the incongruence of the Common Law and the Labour Act. These should be closely related at law, read and applied in tandem with each other, not in isolation. All possible clashes should be removed or properly synchronized to remove doubts and clashes.

Another Supreme Court ruling delivered this week pertaining to allowances further leaves the already wailing workers at the mercy of the employers again. Granted, allowances are optional as per the law, but one would think that during salary negotiations workers committees considered the existence of these allowances to peg and demand their salaries and wages accordingly. What it means is that, next time they negotiate for their remunerations, they simply have to raise the salary and wages levels to cater for the gap that has been created by the scrapping-off of allowances, which have been deemed as optional.

It is critical that we all appreciate the indisputable fact that workers are the drivers of the economy. Destroy the workers and destroy the economy!