LET me welcome you to this column which will focus on matters of labour and employment in Zambia, as well as some international best practices from which we can learn to enrich our local sector.
This is going to be an open platform through which the Ministry of Labour and Social Security will share policy matters, meshed with practical experiences across the various segments of our labour industry, whether formal or informal.
Dear readers, you are encouraged to share your views since anything to do with labour and employment certainly affects all of us.
As I write this column, hundreds of ideas are flooding my mind with ways in which I can effectively deliver issues regarding labour and employment.
I can cite motivation, or lack of it, minimum wage, retirement age, length of shifts, annual leave, maternity and paternity leave, labour market dynamics, labour migrants, skilled and unskilled labour force, and many other facets of labour and employment, particularly as they relate to our own environment.
Drawing on a range of evidence, these are important matters that affect the local population and are in need of satisfactory answers.
It is important to realise that you, our dear readers, are part of the solutions to the problems Zambia may be facing in the labour industry.
While the Government, through the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, and other bodies such as the International Labour Organisation are there to provide the necessary guidelines, matters of labour are wide and varied and, hence, require a multi-pronged approach to adequately address them.
It is, therefore, important for the readers to make the necessary contributions which will help draw the attention of our policy makers.
Before I delve into policy matters, let me give a brief definition of labour so that you could understand the important place it occupies in our lives.
Some scholars have stated that since humans appeared on earth, we have had to work to secure what we need to survive or to improve our standards of living.
I am in total agreement that our needs cannot be satisfied without human effort that results in successful production. Our earliest ancestors had to gather, hunt, and farm successfully, or risked dying.
The term labour in its most general use refers to productive human work. Through much of history, it was not treated as a ‘commodity’ that was paid for. As the scholars have documented, our nomadic ancestors laboured together in the gathering, the hunting and other tasks and collectively shared the results according to the customs of the time.
Farmers grew their crops or raised their livestock and traded them for goods or services using the barter system.
A slave’s labour was forced, whereas that of many peasants was exchanged for protection and the use of land.
To the present day, much productive work is done with meagre or, worse, without monetary payment.
As time passed and societies grew larger and more complex, labour became more specialised.
The complexity of labour has thus necessitated the introduction of stringent policies to guide both the employers and the employees so that both parties continue being motivated to perform better.
Let us, therefore, start by examining the policy statement by the Minister of Labour and Social Security, Mr Fackson Shamenda which he delivered to the National Assembly on November 25, 2014, in support of the 2015 expenditure estimates for the ministry.
The policy statement is in two parts, and today I will focus on the first part that looks at the performance of the ministry during the first three years of the Patriotic Front (PF) Government. The second part will outline the policy focus for the ministry for 2015.
During the three years from October 2011 to October 2014, the Ministry of Labour and Social Security has introduced a number of policy and structural reforms, as espoused in the PF manifesto, aimed at addressing the various challenges that face the labour market.
The ministry has posted a number of successes on many of the reforms introduced towards the realisation of the vision of a productive labour market, anchored on employment equity and social justice.
At the time the PF assumed office in September 2011, the previous Government had approved a K19 million 2012 budget for the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.
The PF administration increased the budgetary allocation to the ministry to K36.8 million in 2013, and further to K42.5 million in 2014.
This underscores the importance the Government attaches to the ministry and the employment and labour sector.
Despite these increments, the budgetary allocation still falls short of the amount required for the ministry to fulfill its mandate.
Another fresh development has been the labour law reform process which has advanced.
A partial amendment of the Employment Act Cap 268 of the Laws of Zambia has also been fast-tracked, specifically to deal with casualisation. This bill will hopefully be tabled before the current session of Parliament.
Closely related to the labour law reforms are the social security reforms. The adoption of the wider social protection policy provided a platform for reinvigoration of related issues, among them social security.
The ministry embarked on the comprehensive social security reforms to ensure a modernised social security system that adequately addresses the plight of retirees.
The reforms will also put in place measures to ensure the long-term financial sustainability of the pension system.
It is encouraging to note that the new social security system will progressively develop mechanisms for extending coverage to the informal sector.
It will take into account the diversity and complexity of the informal sector players by targeting specific groups and providing benefit packages suitable for such groups.
During the period under review, Zambia successfully hosted the 7th East and Central Africa Social Security Association social protection policy makers’ conference, whose theme was ‘Extending Social Security Coverage’. This was done under the auspices of the National Pension Scheme Authority (NAPSA) in October, 2014.
The conference was attended by ministers, Members of Parliament and other policy makers and high-ranking officials from within Zambia and the region.
This is a demonstration of how Zambia is networking with other countries on matters of labour.
Dear readers, before I get to the second part of the minister’s policy statement next week, I will demonstrate to you the other milestones the ministry has scored since 2011.
(This column is an initiative of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. For comments or questions, email info@mlss.gov.zm or niza1@yahoo.com)