By Douglas Mwonzora
The recent ruling by the Supreme Court that worker’s contracts can be terminated by a simple notice is a great drawback to the already suffering workers in Zimbabwe.
It makes it very easy for individual employers to get rid of the employees that they don’t want. The Chief Justice’s reasoning was basically that the wording of the Labour Act was not clear enough to amend the common law position.
Based on this ruling, a lot of employers are already getting rid of employees without the necessity of paying damages. This is inhumane and extremely retrogressive.
The government must immediately amend the Labour Act to make it as clear as possible that the termination of employment must only be in terms of the Labour Act.
We urge our members of Parliament to start the ball rolling on this very important issue. It is submitted however that the Supreme Court reasoning on this issue was wrong.
Where common law conflicts with statute law then statute law must take precedence. Zimbabweans across the political divide must unite and protect the fundamental rights of the workers.
Douglas Mwonzora is a Harare based lawyer and the Secretary General of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T)