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Many companies are facing a myriad of challenges but the most common is lack of working capital which has forced some companies to scale down production while others have closed. It is because of these challenges that many companies have been forced to downsize their workforce. What is however disturbing is that some of the company managers are insensitive to the plight of workers who are victims of these massive retrenchments taking place. Many workers are leaving work with very little in the form of retrenchment packages or nothing at all despite having served their different companies for many years.

Companies across all sectors have been retrenching workers including media houses and some of the workers have been thrown onto the streets with nothing. We therefore want to commend government for quickly taking measures to protect workers by tightening screws on retrenchments regulations.

It is a fact that many companies have been rushing to retrench workers as they found it to be an easy option. The government said it will only approve retrenchment when it is convinced that this is the last resort for the company. The new retrenchment requirements include submissions by companies of the salary structure of the executive and management as well as allowances paid.

The companies are also required to submit the total wage bill and highlight how much will be saved by the proposed retrenchment. The government will also demand from companies the company board of directors fee structure including the allowances paid to directors.

The Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Cde Prisca Mupfumira said the government would use the information to assess the relevance of the proposed retrenchment and how it would benefit or turn around the company. She said companies that provide false information risk being prosecuted. Under the new regulations applications from companies that did not comply with requirements will not be processed.

Cde Mupfumira said the Retrenchment Board set by the government was tripartite in nature because it was made of officials from the government, representatives of employers’ association and representatives from trade unions. This board is supposed to recommend to the Minister informed, well grounded and practical retrenchment packages.

What is however happening on the ground seems to be totally different as workers just wake up one morning to be told that the company has either closed or reduced its manpower. It is our fervent hope that the ministry will rein in errant company managers that just rush to retrench workers without seeking other alternative ways to help the companies survive.

There are however genuine restructuring exercises that cannot be avoided but what is important is that it should affect all workers, including managers. Retrenching managers actually makes a lot of saving for a company compared to retrenching general workers. We want to implore the Labour Ministry to ensure only genuine retrenchment applications are approved because we cannot rule out economic sabotage by some company executives.