Decades of political and economic crises have led to the emigration of many of Zimbabwe’s skilled and well-educated citizens, especially in the fragile healthcare sector. Formal sector employment has fallen significantly. Anecdotal evidence shows widespread youth unemployment as the country continues to produce graduates without a matching growth in employment opportunities. According to the most recent Labor Force Survey, Zimbabwe’s unemployment rate stood at 16.4 percent in 2019. The informal sector is estimated at over 85 percent of the workforce. Most informal workers worked in agriculture, trading, or mining. An estimated 500,000 people worked in small-scale or artisanal mining, according to the Zimbabwe Economic Policy Analysis and Research Unit, an independent think tank. The government strongly encourages foreign investors to make maximum use of Zimbabwean management and technical personnel and any investment proposal that involves the employment of foreigners must present a strong case to obtain work and residence permits. Normally, the maximum contract period for a foreign national is three years with a possible extension to five years for individuals with highly specialized skills.
According to the IMF, Zimbabwe has the second largest informal economy (as a share of GDP) in the world, after Bolivia, with 60.6 percent contribution to the country’s GDP. Official data from the Zimbabwe National Statistical Agency (ZimStat) shows women accounted for 43 percent of the people involved in the informal sector in 2019. A 2018 ILO survey claimed women comprised up to 65 percent of the informal economy.
The country’s labor laws make it very difficult for employers to adjust employment in response to an economic downturn except in the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) where labor laws do not apply. Outside the SEZs, the employer must engage employees and their representatives and agree to adopt measures to avoid retrenchment. If the measures fail, the employer can retrench and pay an all-inclusive package of one-month salary for each two years of service or the pro rata share thereof. Labor laws differentiate between layoffs and severance with the former falling under retrenchment where the retrenchment law must apply. The law does not accept unfair dismissal or layoffs of employees. The 2015 amendments to the act only permit terminations of contracts to be in terms of a registered code of conduct, expiry of a contract of fixed term duration, or mutual agreement. There is no unemployment insurance or other safety net programs for workers laid off for economic reasons.
Collective bargaining agreements apply to all workers in an industry, not just union members. Collective bargaining takes place at the enterprise and industry levels. At the enterprise level, work councils negotiate collective agreements, which become binding if approved by 50 percent of the workers in the bargaining unit. Industry-level bargaining takes place within the framework of National Employment Councils. Unions representing at least 50 percent of the workers may bargain with the authorization of the Minister of Public Service and Labor. The law encourages the creation of employee-controlled workers’ committees in enterprises where less than 50 percent of workers are unionized. Workers’ committees exist in parallel with trade unions. Their role is to negotiate shop floor grievances, while that of the trade unions is to negotiate industry-level grievances, notably wages. The minister and the registrar have broad powers to take over the direction of a workers’ committee if they believe it is mismanaged. Trade unions regarded the existence of such a parallel body as an arrangement that allows employers to undermine the role of unions.
Employers in all sectors rely heavily on temporary or contract workers to avoid having to pay severance costs and follow other onerous termination procedures. The Labor Amendment Act of 2015, however, requires employment councils to limit the number of times employers can renew short-term contracts. The government does not waive labor laws to attract or retain investment, except in the case of SEZs.
The law provides for the right of private sector workers to form and join unions, conduct legal strikes, and bargain collectively. Public sector workers may not form or join trade unions but may form associations that bargain collectively and strike. The law prohibits anti-union discrimination, provides that the labor court handle discrimination complaints, and may direct reinstatement of workers fired due to such discrimination. However, the government does not evenly respect workers’ rights to form or join unions, strike, and bargain collectively.
Parliament enacted a bill establishing the Tripartite Negotiating Forum (TNF) in 2019 to formalize dialogue efforts among government, labor leaders, and employers to discuss social and economic policy and address demands. However, the forum has made limited progress since its establishment. The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) stated the TNF done little to address workers’ demands for wage increases and labor law reform, and the government showed little progress in supporting workers’ protections, fairness, and peaceful resolution of labor disputes.
The country has a labor dispute resolution process that starts at the company level through disciplinary or grievance committees. If the issue is not resolved at this level, the aggrieved party can appeal to either the employment council or the Labor Court depending on the industrial agreement. Other redress is through the Ministry of Public Service, Labor, and Social Welfare in which labor officers settle disputes for industries without employment councils. From the Labor Court, an aggrieved party can appeal to the Supreme Court. Labor inspections are conducted regularly, but face challenges due to a lack of inspectors and resources for inspections.
The government continues to harass labor unions and their leaders. Police and state intelligence services regularly attend and monitored trade union activities and sometimes prevented unions from holding meetings with their members and carrying out organizational activities. Although unions are not required by law to notify police of public gatherings, police require such notification in practice. Those unions engaging in strikes deemed illegal risk fines and imprisonment.
Strikes were commonly met with police brutality, force, and dismissals during the period under review, yet did not pose a direct risk to foreign investment. The government enacted punishment and retaliatory action against teachers who participated in continued strikes regarding the right to a living wage.
The government is a member of the International Labor Organization (ILO) and has ratified conventions protecting worker rights. The country has been subject to ILO supervisory mechanisms for practices that limit workers’ rights to freely associate, organize, and hold labor union meetings. At the 108th session of the ILO’s International Labor Conference in June 2019, the Committee on the Application of Standards noted concern regarding the government’s failure to implement specific recommendations of the 2010 Commission of Inquiry, which found the government responsible for serious violations of fundamental rights by its security forces, including a clear pattern of intimidation that included arrests, detentions, violence, and torture against union and opposition members. The Committee also noted persisting allegations of violations of the rights of the freedom of assembly of workers’ organizations. The Committee urged the government to accept a direct contacts mission of the ILO to assess progress before the next conference. The government ultimately agreed to accept a direct contacts mission, originally scheduled for May 2020 but postponed to April 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The results have not been publicly shared.
In 2020 the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative initiated a review of Zimbabwe’s eligibility for trade preferences under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) due to concerns of worker rights related to a lack of freedom of association, including the rights of independent trade unions to organize and bargain collectively, and government crackdown on labor activists. As the GSP program is on a congressional hold, the review has not yet concluded.
The Health Service Amendment Act came into force on January 4. Passed in response to a significant exodus of health workers as a result of mismanagement of the health care sector, the act deems health care an essential service, criminalizes collective job action over 72 hours or for more than 72 hours in any given 14-day period, and requires a 48-hour notification of collective job action (ref A). Violators face a fine of approximately $60, imprisonment of up to six months, or both. Labor leaders and healthcare associations publicly condemned the law as a violation of international workers’ rights and noted it could further accelerate brain drain.