Assignment 1.

Outline and discuss the roles and functions of the three key actors in industrial
relations, ie, government, business and labour (25)

Traditionally, Industrial Relations (IR) has focused on formal and informal job-regulation
institutions such as collective bargaining, unions, employer associations, and labor tribunals.
A country's industrial relations are shaped by a variety of factors, including its history,
culture, law, technology, economic policies, and response to globalization. Dunlop (1958)
defines industrial relations as the study of employment rules and their variations over time.
Government agencies and management unions, according to Dunlop, established a network
of rules to govern the workplace and the work community. It is the study of who creates the
rules that govern worker-management relations in the workplace, how those rules are
temperamental, and how they are managed and standardized. Kelly (1999) defines formalized
formalized formalized formalized formalized formalized formalized formalized

The term "industrial relations" has a broad as well as a narrow scope. Previously, the term
industrial relations was broadly defined to include the relationships and interactions between
employees and employers. According to this viewpoint, industrial relations encompassed all
aspects of employment relationships, such as human resource management, employee
relations, and union-management (or labor) relations. The issues that were once categorized
as "industrial relations" have evolved over time. However, the term's definition has evolved,
becoming more specific and restricted. The connections between ‘its' and health and safety
measures within an organization have persisted due to the gradual changes in industrial
relations (Blanpain & Baker, 2010).

Government

As a custodian of the nation, the government plays a balancing role; the government exerts
influence on industrial relations through its labor policy, industrial relations policy,
implementing labor laws, the process of conciliation and adjudication by acting as a
mediator, and so on. It attempts to regulate the activities and behavior of both employee and
employer organizations.
As a result, the three groups of employees, employers, and government work within the
social and economic environment that exists at the time. Whatever industrial relations system
is in vogue, it has the intricate rules and regulations that enforce the workplace and the
working community in its framework.

The government and its agencies influence industrial relations processes and relationships
between employees and employers through the development, passage, and implementation of
relevant industrial relations law, policies, and regulations, among other things.

The legal framework within which Industrial Relations must operate is

determined by the government and/or its agencies, possibly in consultation with
other parties involved in the industrial relations processes.

These include representatives from trade unions, employers, and select

employees.

The government and its agencies influence industrial relations processes and
relationships between employees and employers through the development,
passage, and implementation of relevant industrial relations law, policies, and
regulations, among other things.

The legal framework within which Industrial Relations must operate is determined by the
government and/or its agencies, possibly in consultation with other parties involved in the
industrial relations processes.

These include representatives from trade unions, employers, and select employees.
The various systems may contain various forms of such rules and regulations. There may be
laws and awards issued by various courts, committees, or tribunals. Agreements may be
written or sanctioned by custom, usage, practice, or tradition, or they may be the result of
government policies or intervention.

Business

Work groups play a prominent role, with differences in their sizes, constitutions,
and the level of specialization they pursue. Of course, mutual communications
are required for the structure of status and authority, as well as for other
organizations such as trade unions and employer's associations.

The most important function of industrial relations is to ensure continuous

production.

This means that all positions of employment, from managers to workers, are
always filled to ensure continuous full-scale production.

It also means a consistent income stream for everyone involved.

Industries rely on one another.

The goals of industrial relations are then to ensure that there is never a
breakdown in communication or deterioration of an industrial
relationship, resulting in a stall in productivity and, as a result, a stall
in economic gain.

Reduce the likelihood of industrial disputes.

Strikes, go-slows, lockouts, and grievances that impede industrial

activity should be minimized, if not eliminated, through good industrial
relations.

Minimize Wastage

Good labor relations aid in increasing and sustaining production.

Thus, good labor relations help to reduce waste of labor and material resources.

Labour

In industrial relations, the total amount of work is very important. Working age, educational
background, family background, psychological factors, social background, culture, skills,
attitude toward other work, and so on all contribute to the total work. Workers' organizations
play an important role in trade union activities.

Trade and/or labor unions use equal bargaining power to oppose employer exploitation of
employees and to represent workers' interests in the employment relationship.

On behalf of the worker, the union (rep) ensures that the employee benefits from Industrial
Relations and aims to secure the workers by assisting them to have:

• Increased wages that are sustainable for the employee's future; and • Improved working
conditions that allow the employee to be productive, safe, and happy.

Mutual respect is maintained through ongoing communication between the employer and
their employees in order to maintain a healthy working relationship.

• Appropriate training and skill development to keep up with workplace trends so that
employees can advance in their careers.

Union representatives then ensure that the Industrial Relations process benefits the employee
and protects the employee's interests during negotiations and other interactions with the
employer.
The primary goal of trade unions is to protect workers' economic interests through collective
bargaining and to exert economic and political pressure on management. Factors influencing
trade unions include leadership, finances, activities, and so on.

As a result, industrial relations is concerned with the study and practice of collective
bargaining, trade unionism, and labor-management relations, whereas human resource
management is a separate, largely distinct field concerned with non-union employment
relationships and employer personnel practices and policies.

Furthermore, it entails the management of differences/conflicts between employers, workers,

and trade unions as they arise. Clearly, the nature of industrial relations is changing, and the
impetus for this is provided by shifting scenarios. However, the main link remains the
improvement of the worker-employer relationship, one of which is the provision of health
and safety measures to employees (Venkataramana, 2007).

International Industrial Relations is concerned with bodies and phenomena that have cross-
national limitations, such as multi-national corporations or the international labor movement.
REFERENCES

Edwards, P. (2003).Industrial Relations: Theory and Practice. Oxford: Blackwell Pub.

Edwards, P. (2003).Industrial Relations: Theory and Practice. Oxford: Blackwell Pub.

Blanpain, R., & Baker, J. (2010).Comparative labour law and industrial relations in

industrialized market economies. Alphen aan den Rijn, The Netherlands: Kluwer Law
International.

Venkataramana, P. (2007).Industrial relations. New Delhi: A.P.H. Pub. Corp.

Gross, J. A., & Compa, L. A. (2009).Human rights in labor and employment relations:

International and domestic perspectives. Champaign, IL: Labor and Employment Relations
Association, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Assignment 2

Discuss the fundamental labour issues raised in the case of Kundai Magodora and
others vs Care International Zimbabwe (25).

A fixed term contract is a type of employment contract that specifies the length of the
contract. To put it another way, it specifies when it will begin and end as part of its terms. A
contract of employment that does not specify its duration or termination date, or that it is for
the performance of a specific service, is deemed to be a contract without time limit.

Our law recognizes the right of parties to agree on a fixed-term contract and even to
repeatedly renew it on the terms agreed upon by the parties. The Supreme Court ruled in UZ-
UCSF Collaborative Research Programme in Women's Health v Shamuyarira 2010 (1) ZLR
127 (S) that the continued renewal of fixed term contracts over time does not create a
legitimate expectation of re-employment or permanent employment. This legal position was
reaffirmed in the case of Magodora & Ors v Care International Zimbabwe SC 24/14, in which
the court held that the plain meaning of Section 12B (3) (b) is that the employee on a fixed-
term contract must have had a legitimate expectation of being re-engaged upon its
termination and that he or she was supplanted by another person who was engaged in his or
her stead. These requirements are unmistakably linked, and the mere existence of an
expectation without the concurrent engagement of another employee is insufficient.

Employees who are on continuous renewals of fixed-term contracts are not always
entitled to permanent employee benefits such as annual paid leave. Because fixed-
term contracts are limited each time, the employee may be unable to take annual
leave because his contract is less than a year at any given time. The Supreme Court
resolved these disputes in the case of Kundai Magodora and others vs. Care
International Zimbabwe SC24/2014. First, the Supreme Court ruled that where an
employee on a fixed-term contract is terminated and no other person is employed
in place of the employee, there is no legitimate expectation because the Labour Act
expressly states that there is no such expectation. The judge, Justice Patel, stated,
"My reading of Section 12B(3)(b) of the Act does not give me any ground for
departing from that decision."

“The plain meaning of that provision is that the employee on a fixed-term contract
must have had a legitimate expectation of being re-engaged upon its termination
and that he was supplanted by another person engaged in his stead.” These
requirements are unmistakably linked, and the mere existence of an expectation
without the concurrent engagement of another employee is insufficient. I do not
believe that the courts have the authority to overturn clear and unambiguous
language in an Act of Parliament based on principles derived from international
custom or instruments.

“In any case, international conventions or treaties do not form part of our law
unless expressly incorporated therein, and international customary law is not
internally cognisable where it contradicts an Act of Parliament.”

Furthermore, the Supreme Court ruled that courts cannot rely on principles
derived from international custom or instruments to overturn the clear and
unambiguous language of an Act of Parliament. This means that conventions and
treaties that are not codified in our labor laws cannot be used as a basis for legal
decisions.

The Supreme Court also addressed the issue of employees who were re-engaged
multiple times and then terminated, and the employees were signing contracts that
stated, "This contract shall in no way whatsoever lead to a legitimate expectation of
further employment beyond the contract's date of termination." The Supreme
Court issued the following decision:

“In general, it is not open to the courts to rewrite a contract entered into between
the parties or to absolve any of them from the consequences of the contract that
they freely and voluntarily accepted, even if they are shown to be onerous or
oppressive. As a matter of public policy, this is correct. Wells v South African
Alumenite Company, 1927 AD 69, p. 73; Christie: The Law of Contract in South
Africa, 3rd ed., pp. 14-15. It is also not generally permissible to read into a contract
an implied or tacit term that is directly contradictory to its express terms.”

Simply put, once a contract contains this clause, there is no legitimate expectation
of being re-engaged.

Finally, parties must understand what it means to enter into a fixed-term contract and the
implications of the clauses contained within it.

REFERENCES
Gwisai M (2006): Labour and Employment Law in Zimbabwe: Relations of Work under neo-colonial
Capitalism- Zimbabwe Labour Centre and Institute of Commercial Law University of Zimbabwe

Madhuku L (2015): Labour law in Zimbabwe- Weaver Press

Madhuku L ‘Constitutional interpretation and the Supreme Court as a political actor: Some
comments on United Parties v Minister of Justice, legal and Parliamentary Affairs’ Vol 10.1 Legal
Forum 51

Gwisai M ‘Enshrined labour rights under s65 of the 2013 Constitution of Zimbabwe: The right to fair
and safe labour practices and standards and the right to a fair and reasonable wage’ (2015) Volume
3 Issue 1University of Zimbabwe Student Journal