Zimpapers Logo

The Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) yesterday said employers should exercise restraint and avoid rampant job cuts despite the recent Supreme Court ruling allowing them to fire workers on easier terms.

The Supreme Court ruled two weeks ago that employers only needed to give three months’ notice to terminate an employee’s contract, unlike in the past when they were forced to go through the expensive retrenchment route.

The landmark judgment, which has shaken the labour industry, has already led to the firing of thousands of employees.

The job losses have been met with widespread condemnation, led by the Government which has said it planned to fast rack amendments to the Labour Act to strike a balance between the interest of both employers and employees. CZI president Busisa Moyo told a Press conference there was need for a balanced approach to the labour ruling.

“We as CZI have advised companies to exercise restraint and not to go wild and to be sensitive to the current environment. But while we are saying that we also realise that there is a lot of pressure on the employer,” he said.

Mr Moyo said Zimbabwean companies were facing a lot of challenges, chiefly high labour costs against little production. He said there was need to reform the country’s labour laws in a balanced manner that would benefit both the employer and employee. He said one such reform would be the introduction of productivity-based salaries.

“Through labour reforms we see companies being able to direct more of their working capital towards retooling, towards new equipment, towards product improvement and towards efficiencies,” he said. We need to create labour that is aligned, that is efficient, and that follows as closely as possible laws of supply and demand.” – New Ziana.