Davies Ndumiso Sibanda Labour Matters
MANY employers particularly in the retail sector, where at times, working hours are long have wrongly assumed that managerial employees are not entitled to overtime pay.

The starting point in this issue is that, every employee has normal contractual working hours which are identified through the starting time and finishing time at work.

Some contracts are expressed on the normal working hours for managerial employees but are silent on overtime entitlement.

It is unlawful to expect an employee to work for no pay and as such, clauses in managerial employees’ contracts that say this contract does not attract overtime are unlawful.

While the law is clear for non-managerial employees on how overtime is calculated and paid as provided in the collective bargaining, for managerial employees the law is silent. As such, we are guided by case law and the common law principle that protects employees from slavery or working for no pay.

Many employers keep managerial employees at work for long hours to an extent that they do not have any time to themselves. And when the employee is dismissed, disputes over unpaid overtime arise and in most cases, the employer ends up paying a lot of money.

There are many reasons why managerial employees will not complain or demand to be paid overtime when they have so worked.

These include fear of victimisation and fear of losing jobs if they complain.

Others have a number of benefits in lieu of overtime for example, some companies have relaxed private use of the employer’s vehicle, certain types of leaves can be taken without being recorded and many others which the employees believe adequately compensate for non-payment of overtime.

While the employer has certain benefits in lieu of overtime, that should be clearly spelt out to the employee and accepted in writing so as to avoid related conflict in future.

Employers should encourage managerial employees to do their work during normal working hours so as to allow the workers’ time for their private lives and avoid the risk of litigation-related conflict in future.

The retail sector is the most affected as the nature of the business demands long hours.

However, a roster can be put in place to allow managerial employees to work normal working hours.

It must be noted that the rest of the modern world has extended trading hours to beyond the normal working hours of a single worker, and business has proceeded with breaking managerial rights through proper rostering of managers.

In conclusion, where an employer gets a managerial employee to work overtime, the law requires that the employee must be paid unless other forms of compensation acceptable to both parties have been put in place.

  • Davies Ndumiso Sibanda can be contacted on: email: [email protected] Or cell No: 0772 375 235

 

You Might Also Like

Comments