LABOUR AND INDUSTRIAL

RELATIONS LAW
SESSION ONE
INTRODUCTION

• The labour law course is intended to introduce you to the legal

treatment of persons in their capacity as workers or as providers
of labour.
• Appreciate and understand the evolution of the employment
relationship from medieval serfdom to the employment contracts
and why the individual nexus between the employee and the
employer is the cornerstone on which rights and obligations in
labour law are anchored.
• Appreciate that Labor law arose due to the demands of workers
for better conditions, the right to organize, and the simultaneous
demands of employers to restrict the powers of workers' many
organizations and to keep labor costs low.
• Employers' costs can increase due to workers organizing to win
higher wages, or by laws imposing costly requirements, such as
health and safety or equal opportunities conditions.
• Workers' organizations, such as trade unions, can also transcend
purely industrial disputes, and gain political power - which some
employers may oppose.
• The state of labor law at any one time is therefore both the
product of, and a component of, struggles between different
interests in society.
Expectations and benefits to be derived from this course by student.

• a) To strengthen your knowledge of employment relationships or

labour law.
• b) Fully appreciate the jurisprudence of labour law.
• c) Know more about the employment contract, rights and duties it
creates.
• d) Understand the legal requirement in various statutes that
govern work in various places.
• e) Explain and discuss domestic policy development of
employment relationships
COURSE ASSESSMENT

• Continuous Assessment: 40%

• (Assignment 20 and Mid-Semester test 20)
• Final Examination: 60%
PRESCRIBED READING / RECOMMENDED
TEXT BOOKS AND MATERIAL

• W.S. Mwenda, Employment Law in Zambia, Cases and Materials, University of

Zambia.
•  Malcolm Sargeant & David Lewis, Employment Law, Fourth Edition, 2008,
Pearson Longman, United Kingdom
•  Gweyneth Pitt, Cases and Materials on Employment Law, Third Edition, 2008,
Pearson Longman United Kingdom
•  John Duddington, Employment Law, Second Edition, 2007, Pearson Longman,
United Kingdom
•  Janice Nairns, Employment Law for Business students, Third Edition, 2007,
Pearson Longman, United Kingdom
STATUTES

•  Employment Act, Cap 268

•  Employment (Amendment) Act, No. 15 of 1997
•  Industrial and Labour Relations Act, Cap 269
•  Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act, No. 30 of 1997
•  Minimum Wages and Conditions of Employment Act, Cap 276
•  Workers’ Compensation Act, Cap 271
•  Factories Act, Cap 441
INTRODUCTION TO LABOUR LAW

• Objectives: By the end of this unit, you must be able to;

• a) Define a contract of Employment and appreciate sources of
labour law.
• b) Appreciate contract of Employment formation and Content:
Formation and Variation, Validity, Capacity and Formalities, Fixed
Term Contracts, Part-Time Workers; Agency Workers
• c) Duties of the Employer; Duties of the Employee
Introduction

• Labor law concerns the inequality of bargaining power between

employers and workers.
• It is the body of laws, administrative rulings, and precedents
which address the legal rights of, and restrictions on, working
people and their organizations.
• As such, it mediates many aspects of the relationship between
trade unions, employers and employees.
• There are two broad categories of labor law.
• First, collective labor law relates to the tripartite relationship
between employee, employer and union.
• Second, individual labor law concerns employees' rights at work
and through the contract for work.
• The labor movement has been instrumental in the enacting of laws
protecting labor rights in the 19th and 20th centuries.
• Labor rights have been integral to the social and economic
development since the industrial revolution.
• Labor law arose due to the demands of workers for better
conditions.
• Employers' costs can increase due to workers organizing to win
higher wages, or by laws imposing costly requirements, such as
health and safety or equal opportunities conditions.
• Workers' organizations, such as trade unions, can also transcend
purely industrial disputes, and gain political power - which some
employers may oppose.
• The state of labor law at any one time is therefore both the
product of, and a component of, struggles between different
interests in society3.
Sources of Labour Relations in Zambia

• 1. Common law
• 2. Equity
• 3. Legislative Acts
• I. Employment (labour) Act.
• II. Industrial Relations Act (IRA)
• III. NAPSA Act
• IV. Workman’s Compensation Act
• V. Factory Act.
• 4. Customs and Conventions
• 5. Constitution
Common Law

• It is composed of the largest part of English law based on rules

developed by British royal courts during the first three centuries of
the Norman Conquest in 1066 AD as the system applicable to the
whole country as opposed to local customs.
• The Normans who were the French did not attempt to make new
law for the British island or to impose French laws on it they
mainly concerned with
Common law

• common law developed through establishing a strong central

administration and safe guarding the royal revenues
• Royal representatives were sent on tours of the shires to check out
the conducts of local affairs generally and this involved their
participating in the work of local court.
• The common law was subsequently supplemented by equity,
Equity

• It is that part of English law administered by the Lord Chancellor

and later by the court of chancery as distinct from that
administered by the court of common laws.
• The common law relied on remedy of damages.
• litigants were entitled to petition the king who relied on the
advice of the chancellor, commonly an Ecclesiastic (the keeper of
the kings conscience) to do justice in each case.
Equity

• In the 17th century, conflict arose between the common law

judges and the chancellor.
• General principles began to emerge by early 19th century the
court of chancery was more organised and its jurisdiction, once
flexible had ossified into a body of precedent with fixed
principles.
Employment (labour) Act.

• The employment Act basically deals with the relationship between

the employer and the employee.
• It defines the duties and obligations of both the employer and the
employee
• It is also a good source of employment law.
Industrial and Labour relations Act

• This piece of legislation deals with the relationship between the

employer, the employee and the trade union.
• It also provides how the government is involved with dealing with
employment issues through trade unions.
• It is also a good source of industrial and labour relations law.
Factories Act.

• Deals with the safety of workers in work places such as factories,

plants and other related workplaces.
• It spells out obligations and duties of employers to provide a safe
working place for all workers and and to provide protective
clothing.
Customs and Conventions

• Customs and conventions are also a good source of labour law

• Customs and conventions have the effect of law in that their
provisions guide how things are done.
• This is a source of labour as well.
Constitution.

• This being the supreme law of the land is a source of labour law.