I base this volume on observations I have made over the past 10 years as a human resources practitioner and a law student. Labour law is not static. Every year our courts continue to interpret and change our understanding of the labour law landscape. The coming in of the new Constitution in 2013 has also contributed and continues to contribute to this transformation.
This book captures some of the changes happening in our labour law. In it, I discuss selected topics and case law that I find intriguing. The themes captured in this work represent what one might routinely interface with, in as far as labour law in Zimbabwe is concerned. They answer the basic questions that the ordinary person in the street might have. Future volumes will explore more of such themes.
Various amendments to the Labour Act (Chapter 28:01) hereinafter called “the Act”, are being crafted and the relevant Bill was approved by the Cabinet. We took the opportunity to go through the Bill and we saw interesting aspects of this proposed law. In this commentary, we will concentrate on aspects that we consider more controversial, such as the changes that are going to affect fixed-term contracts, collective bargaining, powers of designated agents and labour officers, and retrenchment. These are aspects that affect the employer and the employee on a day-to-day basis. Besides outlining what the Bill is providing, in certain circumstances, we took the opportunity to respectfully highlight the strengths that are going to come with the Bill. We have also respectfully outlined what we consider to be the shortcomings in the Bill. We trust you will enjoy reading this commentary.
