By FLAVIOR CHISHALA –
PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu has banned casualisation of jobs and unjustified termination of contracts of employment.

•LABOUR and Social Security Minister Fackson Shamenda, flanked by Assistant Labour Commissioner Musonda Ulaya, responds to questions during a media briefing on enactment of the amendment to the Employment Act Number 15 of 2015 in Lusaka yesterday.
Picture by ROYD SIBAJENE/ZANIS

Labour and Social Security Minister Fackson Shamenda announced that President Lungu signed into law the amendment to the Employment Act No. 15 of 2015 Cap 268 of the laws of Zambia on November 26, 2015.
Mr Shamenda said the new piece of legislation meant that it was now illegal for any employer to engage an employee on a casual basis for any job of a permanent nature.
The minister said the law would also address the lack of employment security that characterised most employment relationships in the workplace and eliminate gross abuse and exploitation of workers’ rights.
Mr Shamenda said at a media briefing in Lusaka yesterday that the law would help strengthen labour administration in Zambia in line with the Decent Work Agenda.
“This Employment Act No. 15 of 2015 Cap 268 is indeed a Christmas and New Year present to the workers of Zambia, the majority of whom have for a long time suffered exploitation and abuse of their rights through rampant casualisation,” Mr Shamenda said.
He said there was rampant violation and exploitation of workers’ rights such as casualisation, unfair termination of employment, and abuse of the fixed-term contracts which in itself was a form of casualisation.
Mr Shamenda said the enactment of Cap 268 would regulate fixed-term contracts of employment and ensure that employees were not perpetually kept on such contracts, thereby protecting jobs for the workers.
With the coming in of the new law, no employer would be allowed to terminate employment of a worker without a valid reason, although that does not include the dismissal of non-performing or indisciplined employees.
The amended Act further takes into consideration the modern employment trends in line with changes in business cycles, and clarifies the various employment relationships that exist in the country.
Mr Shamenda commended the media for reporting on the poor conditions of service that most workers in the country face and revealing weaknesses of employers.
“I would like to urge employers and workers to get a copy of the amendment Employment Act from Government Printers and study its contents thoroughly in order to operate within the law,” the minister said.