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Labour Matters, Davis Ndumiso Sibanda

Following the removal of multi-currencies from the Zimbabwean market and having the RTGS dollar as the only currency to be used for trading in Zimbabwe, the salaries and wages payment has created conflict and confusion between employers and workers.

There is the challenge of employees who were earning US dollars demanding their salaries be pegged against the ruling market rate for the US dollar on a month by month basis. 

While some employers have no problem with such payments, many have argued they cannot afford that and are paying the salaries that have denominated in US dollars in RTGS dollars, that is, if someone earned US$500 he is now earning RTGS500 dollars.

There are other employers that have simply stuck to NEC minimum rates and told workers that they are complying with the law. While others are paying basic salaries plus cost of living adjustments to cushion workers. 

The advice that the cost of living adjustment is discretionary and can be removed anytime. This leaves employees at the mercy of the employer.

A few employers have approached the Reserve Bank to seek permission to continue paying workers in US dollars as a means of skills retention. This is particularly so in in the mining sector. This has been with mixed results.

An attempt at doing a salary survey has left us frustrated as there is no way one can come up with a credible salary survey. There is a continued increase in salaries both in the private and public sector and in some cases the increases are on a monthly basis.

Salaries have become so variegated, for example, with some general managers earning less than the lowest paid in some companies for example salaries can be varied as follows:

Company A B C D

HR Manager $800 1 800 18 000 54 000

Artisan $700 1 200 16 000 22 000

Finance 

Manager $2 800 6 000 9 000 60 000

Cook $1 100 2 300 4 800 66 000

General 

Manager $2 800 4 700 6 000 84 000

Messenger $400 600 1 200 3 100

The above salaries are actual salaries of employees covering basic pay and cost of living allowances in others. This picture clearly tells of a difficult salary regime where employees are now paid according to each organisation’s ability to pay.

The question that arises is whether some of those salaries are sustainable in the economy and what implications the salaries have for the future of NECs and wage negotiations as some of these variations are found within the same industry.

We now have a situation where some employers rely on NECs for wages guidelines while some in the same industry are paying way above the NEC minimums making NECs irrelevant. In some cases, workers are getting better deals at Works Council making Trade Unions less relevant for wage negotiations in those organisations.

The trend given in the July salary payment seems to continue into August with workers, both managerial and non-managerial pushing for higher wages and salaries. 

Where employers have not responded to managerial employees’ demands for increased salaries, there is serious disgruntlement as many managers will not afford to send children to school in September especially those with children at boarding schools where children’s fees have suddenly gone above many managerial employees’ salaries. This has been compounded by the increased price of petrol, a thing that has consumed a good chunk of managerial employees’ salaries where they have motor vehicles.

In conclusion, nobody can objectively provide guidance on wages and salaries direction, the best organisations can do is to pay the best they can afford as guided by the state of each business and use the NEC minimums as a useful guide.

λ Davies Ndumiso Sibanda can be contacted on: email: [email protected]