The Sunday Mail
The much-anticipated birth of the HB7/2015 Labour Amendment Bill brewed a medley of reactions from business and labour federations.
Some quarters welcomed it by virtue of its recuperative effect and others remained in discordant mode.
All the same, noticeable progress had to be effected in the spirit of business continuity.
The expectations are that the decruitment of staff in industries basing on the common law principle will, at least halt, as the Senate has passed the Bill.
The obsession with the psychology of dismissals often referred to as industrial “capital punishment” has superimposed the spirit of reconstruction.
Government, Business and Labour have to endure the short term pain so that healthy dividends are yielded in the long run.
The possibility of legal loopholes in the current Bill can only be stemmed through further Tripartite Negotiation Forum discussions until we reach a common future that balances all our interests.
The Supreme Court ruling had far-reaching implications to the employers, labour and workers.
There is need for a paradigm shift for human capital innovation in this turbulent economy.
Human resources practitioners need to regain their foothold through an arsenal of methods to nurture the strength of surviving employees and take businesses forward.
They are the lifeblood of business.
The dynamics of the employer-employee relationship are lubricated by the labour relations provisions as well as the strategic and tactical plans of Business.
Government, on its part, through the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, has tried to create a balance between the effects of the Supreme Court ruling, employers’ and employees’ interests.
To strike that balance is very difficult in a turbulent economy.
The interplay of the complex interests among the three TNF partners is now much more difficult to achieve in light of the competing interests.
There is need to re-engage all parties beyond the amendments to ensure stability and commonality of purpose.
The challenges of low capacity utilisation and limited export growth are affecting companies. Hence, there is need for sectoral fora to tackle the issues head on through discussions on how to penetrate new markets as well as attracting new domestic and foreign investments for sustainable growth
Businesses have always had low capacity utilisation concerns because of limited markets and investments.
External capital injection is critical for business to survive.
More export competitiveness will reduce the need to continue cutting employment costs. The focus should be on enhancing human capital innovation and creativity.
Businesses are likely to start negotiating retrenchment packages for the dismissed workers. The amendments are opening doors for negotiations.
The quicker the negotiations are done, the better so that companies focus on productivity, competitiveness and growth rather than cost-cutting.
We are now in a period of strategic rethink for industry to be revived and grow. Businesses should rethink their strategies and tactical plans beyond labour relations. Transformational mindsets are required to tackle fundamental socio-economic challenges head on.
Further, TNF discussions beyond the amendments will help build on macro-labour relations strength so that focus is on business process re-engineering and innovation.
Business and Labour should move fast to review the provisions and provide their bipartite input to the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare so that their concerns and recommendations can be discussed.
This is also necessary in order to plug the likelihood of further legal loopholes and so avoid a multiplicity of interpretations.
It is against this approach that Zimbabwe will be in good stead on business competitiveness, employee survival and the growth of the economy at large.
It is also imperative that further calls for restraint be made in all sectors to retain the much-needed focus on competitiveness. This is necessary as businesses are still facing operational challenges, for example, low capacity utilisation, high labour and utility costs, obsolescence of plant machinery, influx of imports, low export markets and limited Foreign Direct Investments. Zimbabwe has a great deal of potential to regain its place as a regional economic giant and be integrated into the global economic mainstream.
The amendments show that our success is hinged on a holistic approach and so tripartite interventions and re-engagements guarantee a practical path to a permanent macro-solution.
Edmore Mudavanhu is a Harare-based human resources expert and the convenor of the bi-annual Labour and Business Symposiums
