LABOUR MINISTER DIRECTED TO WORK OUT MINIMUM WAGES

BY IRVIN MUYUMBWA PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu has directed the Minister of Labour and Social Security to continue with processes of developing more sector based minimum wages in the economy. President Lungu said this is because government believes in the protection of workers’ rights through the development of the Employment Code Act which regulates the terms of employment. President Lungu urged the minister to expedite the process of coming up with these wages to protect the rights of vulnerable categories of employees because there are other sectors that need to be considered. And President Lungu said the national productivity policy launched in March this year is aimed at achieving the twin goals of economic prosperity and improved standard of living of the Zambian people through sustainable enterprises. The Head of State said he believes a productive human resource is critical to Zambia’s development. He was speaking yesterday at the commemoration of Labour Day under the theme ‘promoting industrialization through productivity, decent work and sustaining economic development.’ And President Lungu urged employers to continue seeking innovative ideas for their businesses to thrive amidst the impact of covid19.  President Lungu said to cushion the impact of covid-19 on employers, government issued statutory instrument no. 48 of 2020 to exempt employers from some provisions of the Employment Code Act no.3 of 2019. He said government also provided bail-out packages to small and medium enterprises mostly affected by the pandemic in addition to waiving tax penalties and interest on outstanding tax liabilities resulting from the impact of the pandemic.  Meanwhile, President Lungu said government has over the past one year created 5,237 jobs under the Lake Tanganyika project through a covid-19 relief package of $200,000. He said government further provided employment opportunities to youths by empowering 93,444 out of the targeted 150, 000 and stated that it is gratifying that 49 percent of these are females. And Zambia Congress of Trade Unions President Chishimba Nkole expressed concern that formal employment growth has remained limited at about 10 per cent. Mr Nkole said unemployment has also kept on being on the rise with wages for those employed remaining low. He said most of those in formal employment are on the blink of economic hardships arising from the effects of covid-19 and the rising cost of living.