Zimpapers Logo

Labour Matters Davies Ndumiso Sibanda
AS small businesses become major employers of labour there is a sudden increase in labour disputes between small business owners and employees and in the majority of cases employers are in the wrong and the errors are costly.A few days ago I met a business man running a small business who had been ordered to back-pay and reinstate a worker he dismissed nine months earlier.  He had the Arbitration Award with him and wanted me to assist him with an appeal to the Labour Court.

The brief facts of the matter were that the employee had abandoned work for two hours without permission and in his defence the employee said that he had gone to the bus rank at lunch to wait for his wife from the village and the bus delayed thus he missed work for two hours.  The employer got angry and told the worker he was   fired. When the matter got to Arbitration at NEC the employer was found not  to have legally dismissed the employee as the Code of Conduct procedure was not followed.

In cases like the one given the employer has no prospects of success on appeal because the Arbitrator will have made a finding of fact that the Code of Conduct procedures were not followed.

There are many small businesses that are in trouble with the law because they either do not know the labour laws or they wrongly think they are cutting costs by not seeking legal advice from Labour Consultants or lawyers.  It is advisable for small businesses to keep Labour Consultants or lawyers who can advise or assist them on labour matters from time to time if they cannot afford to employ a full time Human Resources person.

Above all, the employer should engage the appropriate NEC and get the minimum conditions of service for the industry’s non managerial employees.  This helps one to operate within the law from the onset and avoid costly mistakes.

Legal obligations like ensuring workers work set hours, they are either paid for overtime or given time off, they are paid for leave days, work on public holidays is paid at double the rate, shift allowances for shift workers are paid if provided for in the CBA and others are not negotiable, they must be paid and will come back to haunt the employer when dismissed employees litigate and the employer is forced to pay huge sums of money.

Another area many businesses take for granted is ensuring all employees have valid contracts of employment.  It does not matter whether the employee is a relative or a friend’s child.  Experience has shown that when it comes to labour matter most workers will litigate irrespective of their relationship with the employer.  I have handled a case where the claimant was a younger sister to (the respondent) her sister’s business.  It was disheartening to see sisters fight it out in a hearing.

In conclusion, small businesses should seek advice and continuous guidance on labour matters as getting to a consultant or lawyer when there is a problem could be too late to solve the problem and if a solution is found it is usually costly.

Davies Ndumiso Sibanda can be contacted at [email protected].