MANY people have found casualisation absolutely repugnant for a number of reasons, and news that the Casualisation Bill has now been drafted must have, therefore, been greeted with a big round of applause among the affected workers.
The Bill, currently under scrutiny at the ministry of Justice, will be tabled in the next sitting of Parliament, according to Labour and Social Security Minister Fackson Shamenda.
Without such definitive action, the problem of casualisation would be repeated ad infinitum – without ever coming to an end.
A casual worker is an employee whose terms of employment provide for his or her payment at the end of each day and who is engaged for a period of not more than six months.
It is a word that is known by many people, but for the sake of readers who may not be familiar with it, casualisation is a practice where an employer or agent engages a worker on a short-term contract for a job of a continuous nature with terms and conditions applicable to a casual worker.
This is a practice mostly favoured by employers who want to avoid costs that come in the form of housing allowances, medical schemes, leave pay, and terminal and other benefits, which are normally awarded to permanent or full-time workers.
In an attempt to maximise profits and to keep up with competition, some companies have resorted to unethical business practices like casualisation of workers, in violation of fundamental labour laws.
The unskilled workers become more disadvantaged as more technology is introduced into the workplace, although this should not be the ultimate excuse, as some labour experts argue.
For instance, studies of the construction industry in some countries in Africa have established that the so-called skilled workers function mainly in administrative and supervisory capacities, with the exception of a few engineers and technicians in the field.
So there should be no reason to subject the people who are performing the actual work to miserable conditions of service.
In Zambia’s post-privatisation era, it has also been fashionable for some employers to hire workers on part-time or temporary basis.
Such workers get purged quite easily because they, in most cases, do not understand the importance of signing contracts.
Sadly, even for those who know the full import of a well-drafted contract, they go on to accept meagre incomes and scandalously poor conditions of service since they are desperate for jobs.
But note that when a casual employee works for more than six months, he or she automatically qualifies for admission as a permanent employee.
This is why it is important that a contract record is kept to show the duration a casual worker has worked.
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A job advertisement recently published in the local media by a company that sought the services of “preferably a white lady” stirred a lot of emotions among many people.
In fact, in all their seven advertisements, preference was given to female applicants, which was another source of contention.
In view of the grave misgivings about the adverts, the Labour Department called the company management to caution them against discriminatory tendencies.
They were told to cancel the adverts and run an apology. The ministry quoted the Industrial and Labour Relations Act, Section 108, which talks about discrimination.
Thankfully, the company managers were apologetic and said they had been misled. They, in line with the points raised by the ministry, ran an apology.
It must be noted that the Ministry of Labour and Social Security does not condone discrimination in the workplace, whether it is based on race, sex, colour, or creed.
All Zambians must be allowed to compete for jobs for as long as they have valid qualifications.
Equally important, investors who are not conversant with Zambia’s cultural practices are encouraged to engage human resource consulting firms to handle their recruitments.
That is the reason why the Government has banned the recruitment of non-Zambians to handle human resource functions because they do not understand the local culture.
Such grief as the vexatious adverts brought could otherwise be avoided if the labour laws and local culture were respected.
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I was overly encouraged to receive mail from Daliso Banda, who wrote: “Dear Sir/Madam, there are some of us who are writers, and so far I have published one book entitled The internal cry of my heart.
“It was advertised in the Zambia Daily Mail newspaper about three years ago, but due to lack of financial support, the book was not launched.
“I have a manuscript ready to be published. Mine is an inspirational book of poetry about our Lord Jesus Christ and an encouragement to my fellow youths.
“How can I be supported in my initiative to share with, and support the youth in Zambia? My e-mail address is spiraka_5@hotmail.com; phone number +260 972 485016.”
Dear readers, let us keep this link open as we share matters on labour and employment.
(This column is an initiative of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. For comments or questions, email info@mlss.gov.zm or niza12001@yahoo.com)