By Lloyd Takawira
Realing from the effects of the novel coronavirus some private companies have been forcibly retrenching and sending workers on upaid leave much to the chargin of the government which has quickly moved to warn against such.
In his May day remarks, Labour minister, Paul Mavhima said companies are obliged to comply with the agreed terms of employment .
“There should be no unlawful terminations or procedural retrenchments during the lockdown period,” he said.
Mavhima went on to say “My ministry stands to provide technical advice on issues regarding workplace measures to cope with Covid-19.”
He also said that government was going to send inspectors across the country.
“The stakeholders have a role to perform by being ears and eyes of our inspectorate and we will respond swiftly to any such reports. I also expect my officers to execute their duties professionally. Any acts of corruption must be reported for the law to take its course.
“Let us point out that workers councils and the national employment councils (NEC) remain effective engagement platforms for workers and employers to engage and agree on measures that take into consideration respective peculiarities of establishments and NECs as we craft workplace measures to mitigate the effects of Covid-19.”
The Tripartite Negotiating Forum is expected to meet soon and review the situation.
