The recent Supreme Court ruling on contracts of employment has opened a floodgate of employment contract terminations. The effects were bound to reach the telecoms operators that have been operating in a tough environment. One of the letters that was allegedly sent to an Econet employee has been circulating on social media. It is termed as a termination of employment rather than a dismissal.
29 comments
So sad!
Inspired to change your world. Sorry boss but at least you had a few years of a high salary.
Bt this wont solve the main problem of most zim companies inefficienct and mis management.
Plus upper management whats to stop the board from fiting you in the same way wht goes around comes aroung. Magaya achtemwa neyake inobva kuna Mboweni na strive.
On the flip side this means no innovation in zim cz whts the point of an employee coming up with new products when you walk away with nothing. Yes eciney is now proved it self provlainmes most disruptive status in firing people
Pakaipa…!
This letter is a carbon copy of the TN letter. Also doing rounds on social media.
Having said that. Companies fire people all the time.
You’re absolutely out of touch of current events.
If you think this is about the normalcy of people getting “fired all the time”, perhaps you should go drink fry an egg or something
*or
I really feel for the staff affected by this but this is one of those “austerity measures” that was a long time coming, it’s tough but necessary for the sake of survival. The economy has shrunk, prices are under deflation / disinflation, Econet and other telcos were carrying bloated structures from the early 2000s days of super-profits where they could afford to hire as many managers and staff as it took to keep the machine purring along. Things have changed, and it hasn’t helped that the labour laws in Zim were, until this landmark ruling, totally biased in favour of even the least productive most dishonest thieving worker, what with cumbersome misconduct disciplinaries that made it impossible to weed out bad apples from the workforce. Now at least companies can trully focus on getting lean and mean with the one business expense that is the most crippling but also the difficult to cut down – staff costs. Its not just the cost of direct salaries and benefits, its the cost of “leakage” caused by staff abusing company phones, vehicles, fuel, intellectual property, stealing customers etc, which costs most companies even more than the $$$ they pay in direct salaries. There is no company that would want to remain with no employees, but every company wants to remain with only the best employees and this new ruling is a major win for the future efficiency and prosperity of the few remaining companies that have remained afloat thus far. Companies can now grow, eventually start employing more people, and for those who had their contracts terminated, those who were of value to their companies will always find their way into another placement sooner or later, possibly even across the border in SA or Bots or Namibia or Dubai or Australia. It’s the lazy greedy no-good grumpy set that will struggle to find something to do cos they never brought any value to their former employers, I’m just saying…
I just want to point out that this action by Econet is an unethical conduct. You cannot exploit a loophole in the law to render so many people jobless. Of course there were better alternatives even if it meant further reducing salary. All these affected people should fight until their cases are revisited.
Inspired to Change your World sies!!!
True bt televos is about innovation nowthose left even in top positions arent motivated as no reward is offered. Econet may use it to cull bloating bt lets fave it the blowback is huge as a person adopts a i dont care attitude since loyalty isnt rewarde.
Lastlu the biggest problem in zim is inefficiency mismanagement and this firing isnt going to vhange that. As usyal zimbos choose to ignore realty to succes
Prisca Mupfimira need to correct this as soon as possible.
I don’t think anyone adopts I don’t care attitude knowing their job is on the line, if anything you actually polish your act and get your shiii together and work your butt off, making yourself indispensible to the company and thus management. It’s the blase attitude of entitlement from before that created bloated corporate structures where employees thought the job was theirs until THEY decided to move to the next chump employer. Now the playing field has been levelled if you don’t perform you bounce, its a self correcting mechanism. Most employees need to wisen up to this if they wanna get some job security in their current positions, a job is very valuable, you need to keep it at all costs. In a collapsed economy such as ours its an employers market and things will only change when the powers that be come up with something better than what they have delivered to the long-suffering Zimbabwean market thus far
I think you are right. If lay-offs are entirely performance based, then employees are motivated to work harder (albeit, out of fear rather than enthusiasm).
However, if employee lay offs are tied to position or the criterion is hazy, then fear gets in the way of work and some employees might decide ‘kudya pavakasungirirwa’ in case their dismissal letter is already in the mail. Who would want to go the extra mile, slave for a company for 20 years at a job where the end result might actually be the same as another person who got employed a year ago?
It is true and logical that the monthly salary is compensation enough for work carried out irrespective of how many years we are talking about. But cold hard logic has never managed to buy loyalty.
Sorry amana, your options:
Piwai minda or
itai ma vendor or
tangai kambani (mugovhara) or
huyai joni, mabasa hobho check pnet/linkedin or
joinai zanu, mubewo
Is this suppose to be a joke. Tikwanire
ahahhaha econet is taking its anger to poor zimbos…but u strive can’t u see u not doing anything but killing innocent souls..u know the main problem. .
some pple write as if they don’t come from our mother land. which company is employing the best candidate now instead managers are picking their relatives to fill up gaps even if they are incompetent. lets not be selfish gentleman. only self centred people will support such a move. What is the use of being employed instead vending will be much better coz u will be doing your own things at your own time.as for Econet it was bound to happen coz they have abnormal tariffs. u top up a dollar is doesn’t last 30 mins in your phone without calling. Shit hits the employees,
“Only self centred people will support such move” – show me one employee who isn’t self centred! Employees are there to ensure they maximise the amount of benefit flowing from themselves to the company even (especially) to the detriment of the company. Who isn’t using company phones, computers, internet and vehicles etc for private benefit? Who isn’t finding ways to divert company stock to their own benefit. Shareholders expect the best from CEOS and CEOS ditto from their execs and execs ditto from their managers and managers ditto from staff. You are in denial Come the days of “I’m indispensable to this company” are over OVER! You speak as though people started hiring relatives after the passing of this landmark ruling – honestly nothing new there. Zim companies have a better prospect of survival with this new ruling than without it. Why should companies suffer when employees resign without even giving sufficient notice to the employer in order to allow a smooth handover. Vanoswera varipa pasi within 3 days of resignation because kwamuka greener pastures at the companies competitor. No its fair to all coz employee can terminate so employer can terminate an at least employee has 3 months to find another job. Those who think they will not be motivated to work hard because they say Havana job security are also in denial. Try imagine going without your salary and benefits for 3 straight months and that should quickly motivate you to work 10 times harder to save the only job you currently do have. Nothing like a little hardship and poverty to whip you into line eh
how many pple are working without salaries. some have gone for 24 months my dear without pay so I cant imagine reality. Whats the reason for working hard on such terms? i would love to believe employers are the only pple rejoicing not employees
Thats econect for you bully and uncaring, they will now wish another supreme court rulling to ban infrastructure sharing.
Ecotheft
HAHA!
Does anyone actually know how many people will be leaving Econet
This to me sounds like retrenchments ,doesnt the Labour act say anything about retrenching more than 5 people within six months ?Is this not a violation of Human Rights,most companies are legal beings but are not Humans,What is more important to us as a Nation?Shouldnt our legal system apply consideration even if the Law is clear? Doesnt presedence create Law ? This judgement interpreted Law but did not usher in new Law as some people think.I think the Supreme court judges should have made consideration on what this Law would have had on the employees,maybe in passing jugdement they should have added a statement to say that in giving notice the employer first apply measures to avoid terminations and should terminate where there is no reasonable expectation of continued engagement .The Labour Act is clear on that as well.Allowing companies to use this Law without taking into account other rights is opening the judgement to abuse.Can the Labour experts and Human rights associations take this to the Courts again and stop this rot.While this can be used for non performing employees it does not make sense to apply it on 400 people at once ,surely in that lot there is at least someone who is an excellent performer and in conclusion, a Fish rots from the Head and if companies are not performing then start looking at the heads first.
Something has to give for the change that everybody desires to happen. Seems to me labour is not willing to give anything. Employers owe salaries for no work done coz of no sales, no production. That has its limits and I am sure we have reached that limit.
Unless this letter has been doctor’d i’d think EW are in breach of the labour act (http://www.osall.org.za/docs/2011/03/Zimbabwe_Labour_Act_Chap28_01.pdf). The act in my opinion empowers the employee and doesn’t give the employer much room or grounds to dismiss an employee at will especially without citing Employment Code which i believe a company such as EW would have. For anyone interested take a good read of the section titled “Dismissal” (section 12B ~ page 22).
Inspired to disrupt your life
How about we make a go for this Magaya chap and all those dismissing workers? Make the Earth a hell for them, hound them wherever they are; be it at church, braai, lodge, funeral, beer hall, etc.
Only just noticed this now – dear Techzim, WHO THE HELL IS “STAFF WRITER”!!!???