Back to Index
Labour
(National Employment Code of Conduct) Regulations, 2006 - SI 15
of 20061
UPDATED
VERSION (WITH AMENDMENTS) 012
October 20, 2006
Published as
a supplement to the Zimbabwean Government Gazette dated the 27th
January, 2006.
Date of commencement: 27th January, 2006.
Updated by Statutory Instrument 232/2006 of 20th October 2006 (effective
from that date).
Download this
Bill
- Word
97 (44KB)
- Acrobat
PDF version (31KB)
If you do not have the free Acrobat reader on your computer, download
it from the Adobe website by clicking
here.
IT is hereby
notified that the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social
Welfare has, in terms of section 101(9) of the Labour Act [Chapter
28:01] made the following regulations:—
Title
1. These regulations may be cited as the Labour (National Employment
Code of Conduct) Regulations, 2006.
Interpretation
2. In these regulations—
"Act"
means the Labour Act [Chapter 28:01];
"disciplinary committee" means a committee set up at
a workplace/establishment composed of employer and employees representatives,
to preside over and decide over disciplinary cases and/or worker
grievancies;
"disciplinary authority" means a person or authority
or such disciplinary committee dealing with disciplinary matters
in an establishment or at a workplace;
"superior" means a person responsible for the supervision
of staff of a section and includes such other superiors in the
establishment or organisation;
"misconduct" means offences as given in section 4 of
these regulations.
Objectives
of the code
3. The objectives of the code shall, among other issues include
the following—
(a) to provide
machinery for careful investigation of offences before corrective/disciplinary
action can be administered; or
(b) to ensure consistency and prompt action by the responsible/administering
official or committee on issues concerning discipline; or
(c) to ensure equating an offence to the result corrective action
allowing for mitigation or aggravating factors; or
(d) to provide guidelines on procedural and substantive fairness
and justice in handling disciplinary matters at the workplace.
Misconduct
4. An employee commits a serious misconduct if he or she commits
any of the following offences—
(a) any act
of conduct or omission inconsistent with the fulfilment of the
express or implied conditions of his or her contract; or
(b) wilful disobedience to a lawful order; or
(c) wilful and unlawful destruction of the employer's property;
or
(d) theft or fraud; or
(e) absence from work for a period of five or more working days
without leave or reasonable cause in a year3;
or
(f) gross incompetency or inefficiency in the performance of his
or her work; or
(g) habitual and substantial neglect of his or her duties; or
(h) lack of a skill which the employee expressly or implied held
himself or herself out to possess.
Termination
of contract of employment
5. No employer shall terminate a contract of employment with an
employee unless—
(a) the termination
is in terms of an employment code which is registered in terms
of section 101(1) of the Act; or
(b) in the absence of the registered code of conduct mentioned
in (a), the termination is done4
in terms of the National Employment Code of Conduct provided for
under these regulations; or
(c) the employer and employee mutually agree in writing to the
termination of the contract; or
(d) the employee was5
engaged for a period of fixed duration or for the performance
of a specific task and the contract of employment is terminated
on the expiry of such period or on the performance of such task.
Disciplinary
procedure
6. (1) Where an employer has good cause to believe that an employee
has committed a misconduct mentioned in section 4, the employer
may suspend such employee with or without pay and benefits and shall
forthwith serve the employee with a letter of suspension with reasons
and grounds of suspension.
(2) Upon serving
the employee with the suspension letter in terms of subsection (1),
the employer shall, within 14 working days investigate the matter
and conduct a hearing into the alleged misconduct of the employee
and, may, according to the circumstances of the case—
(a) serve
a notice, in writing, on the employee concerned terminating his
or her contract or employment, if the grounds for his or her suspension
are proved to his or her satisfaction; or
(b) serve a notice, in writing, on the employee concerned removing
the suspension and reinstating such employee if the grounds for
suspension are not proved.
(3) A determination
or order served in terms of subsection 2(b) shall provide for backpay
and benefits from the time of the summary suspension.
(4) At a hearing
in terms of subsection (2), an employee shall have the right to—
(a) at least
three working days notice of the proceedings against him or her
and the charge he or she is facing;
(b) appear in person before the employer or the employer's representative
or disciplinary authority as the case may be and be represented
by either a fellow employee, worker's committee member, trade
union official/officer or a legal practitioner;
(c) call witnesses and have them cross-examined;
(d) be informed of the reasons for a decision;
(e) address in mitigation before the ultimate penalty is imposed.
Penalties
7. (1) In general, disciplinary action should, in the first instance,
be educational and then corrective. Punitive action should only
be taken when the said earlier steps have proved ineffective.
(2) As far as
is possible similar offences committed in similar circumstances
should be treated equitably through the award of similar penalties
allowing for mitigating and aggravating circumstances.
(3) The dismissal
penalty to be imposed for an offence in section 4 is not obligatory
but is meant as a guide to employers and an employer may, at his
or her discretion apply a lesser penalty for example, a written
warning.
(4) For offences
which do not warrant dismissal an employer may issue a verbal or
written warning as the case may be.
Appeals6
8. (1) Depending on the size and circumstances of an establishment
or a workplace, an employer may appoint a person in his or her employment
as an Appeals Officer or with the agreement of his or her employees
or worker representatives, an Appeals Committee to preside over
and decide on appeals.
(2) Any7
internal appeal structures shall be limited to not more than two
appeals authorities.
(3) A person
or party who is aggrieved by a decision made in terms of section
(2) may, in writing, note an appeal within seven working days with
the Appeals officer or Appeals Committee.
(4) The Appeals
Officer or Appeals8
Committee, as the case may be, may call for a formal hearing to
hear the appeal or decide from the record submitted.
(5) An Appeals
Officer or Appeals Committee, as the case may be, shall have 14
working days from day of receipt of the appeal, to dispose of the
appeal.9
(6) A person
or party who is aggrieved by a decision or manner in which an appeal
is handled by his or her employer or the Appeals Officer or Appeals
Committee, as the case may be, may refer the case to a Labour Officer
or an Employment Council Agent, as the case may be, within 7 working
days from the day of receipt of such decision.10
(7) The Labour
Officer or an Employment Council Agent11
to whom a case has been so referred shall process the case as provided
for under section 93 of the Act.
Repeal
The Labour Relations (General Conditions of Employment) (Termination
of Employment) Regulations, 2003, published in Statutory Instrument
130 of 2003, are repealed.
1 Published
as a supplement to the Zimbabwean Government Gazette dated the 27th
January, 2006.
Date of commencement: 27th January, 2006.
2 THIS UPDATED VERSION includes amendments made by Labour (National
Employment Code of Conduct) (Amendment) Regulations, 2006 (No. 1),
published in Statutory Instrument 232/2006 of 20th October 2006
(effective from that date).
3 Amended by Statutory Instrument 232/2006 ("year" changed
to "a year").
4 Words "is done" inserted by Statutory Instrument 232/2006.
5 Original "has" changed to "was" by Statutory
Instrument 232/2006.
6 Heading (originally "Penalties") corrected by Statutory
Instrument 232/2006.
7 "Any" substituted for "An" by Statutory Instrument
232/2006.
8 "Appeals" inserted by Statutory Instrument 232/2006.
9 Subsection as substituted by Statutory Instrument 232/2006.
10 Subsection (7) as substituted by Statutory Instrument 232/2006.
11 As amended by Statutory Instrument 232/2006; "an Employment
Council Agent" substituted by "employment council agent".
Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.
TOP
|