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Labour Matters Davies Ndumiso Sibanda
Many organisations today are failing to pay wages and salaries on time and in some instances the wage arrears go back to more than two years and this has led to conflict with workers and trade unions on one side and employers on the other.

A simplistic approach to the problem is unlikely to give parties a lasting solution as the causes of salary or wage payment delays are many they get complex by the day. The courts have also not helped the situation as some courts decisions have accelerated the demise of businesses leaving workers worse off.

Talk to workers today, one of the most feared things is Judicial Management as there are very few employees with good stories to tell after organisations they worked for went into Judicial Management. Legal questions by workers on how their rights are protected when an organisation goes into Judicial Management remain unanswered.

On the ground, many organisations pay net wages when they have collected enough money for that resulting is statutory payments such as Zimra, NSSA, ZIMDEF Pensions, NEC due and union dues remaining unpaid. At times the net payments are paid in dribs and drabs to an extent that workers do not even know how much they are owed. Workers are kept informed of the situation to an extent that they have accepted such a situation as better than nothing.

In some cases the labour laws have been thrown out of the window and organisations are surviving on “madoda agreements” whereby workers have agreed on various types of unpaid leave and payment methods that do not talk to the relevant collective bargaining agreements as the Labour Act. In one organisation, the parties have abandoned applying for exemptions from the NEC but have crafted their own work roster which allows each employee to work for a certain number of days. Some organisations have entered into agreements with workers on how each invoice that gets paid is shared between various costs including wages. Some employers have converted wage arrears into equity to starve off wage arrears related litigation. Some have by mutual agreement quarantined wage arrears and moved to pay current wages, what happens to wage arrears remains anybody’s guess. The list of creative methods of managing wage arrears is an endless one.

Some workers have however stuck to the law and litigated over wage arrears and employers have reported to legal delaying tactics to an extent that parties are always litigating over wage arrears and entering into payment plans which get reviewed from time to time.

Unions in a large number of instances have been careful to balance demand for payments of wage arrears and ensuring survival of business into the future. In fact, the level of engagement between trade unions and individual employers has improved a great deal in the last year as parties enter into inconvenient marriages of survival.

At managerial level, many employers are battling with the unmanageable salary and benefits bill resulting in some employers getting into legal problems over unilateral reduction of salaries. In some instances, because managerial employees are desperate to keep jobs they are bullied into submissions with problems arising when the employees leave and challenges the legality of variation of conditions of service. If the employee succeeds the ripple effect is usually costly for the employee.

With all these challenges related to delayed salaries who then is to blame. I am of the view that there are many things to blame. As a nation we have been caught within the challenges related to our failing economy which come through as delayed wages and salaries.

The tripartite negotiating forum in my opinion has been a let down to the nation as it has failed to rise to the occasion by recognising the fact that the Labour Act, and related national and industry specific regulations are dwarfed by the occasion.

The tripartite negotiating forum need to come up with labour legislation that creates a balance between job retention and business survival on the other had.

As things stand, only a small fraction of job losses is reported nationally as many small businesses employ friends, neighbours and relatives who can easily be told they are terminated and it ends there. At the same time workers are either underpaid or are paid as and when money is available without talking about arrears. Out of desperation people are working under these conditions. The challenge is that the Labour Act is dwarfed by such occasions thus the need to relook at legislation.

Top of the list of required legislation is legislation that allows workers to be paid wage arrears at the same time protect the tools, equipment and plant workers use from being sold to pay wages as at the end of the day workers lose more.

In conclusion, there is no simple solution to the problem wage arrears payment as it has become complex to an extent even the very experienced labour practitioners are learning all the time.

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