Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2012, published 102nd ILC session (2013)

Minimum Wage-Fixing Machinery Convention, 1928 (No. 26) - Zimbabwe (Ratification: 1993)

Articles 1 and 3 of the Convention. Minimum wage fixing machinery. The Committee recalls its previous comment in which it noted the observations of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) according to which the Government has been ignoring the recommendations of the Wages and Salaries Advisory Board for the readjustment of the minimum wage for domestic workers that remains unchanged since 2007. In its reply, the Government indicates that following extensive consultations with the tripartite Wages and Salaries Advisory Board, the Minister of Labour and Social Services has approved the Labour (Domestic Workers) Employment (Amendment) Regulations, 2011, which set minimum wages for domestic workers between US$85 and $100 per month, as from 1 October 2011.

Moreover, the Committee recalls that in earlier comments it requested the Government to provide more detailed explanations on the composition of the various consultative bodies, provided for in the Labour Act (Cap. 28:01), and on the legal provisions which guarantee the representation of the employers and workers concerned in equal numbers and on equal terms, as required under Article 3 of the Convention. Noting that pursuant to the Labour Amendment Act of 2005, advisory councils appointed to make recommendations, among others, on the fixing of minimum wages are to consist of such persons as the Minister may deem fit, the Committee requests once again the Government to specify any legal provisions which ensure that the employers and workers concerned participate in the operation of the minimum wage-fixing machinery on equal terms in all circumstances, in accordance with the requirements of the Convention.

Finally, the Committee wishes to recall that based on the recommendations of the Working Party on Policy regarding the Revision of Standards (GB.283/LILS/WP/PRS/1/2, paragraphs 19 and 40), the ILO Governing Body has decided that Conventions Nos 26 and 99 are among those instruments which may no longer be fully up to date but remain relevant in certain respects. The Committee therefore suggests that the Government should consider the possibility of ratifying the Minimum Wage Fixing Convention, 1970 (No. 131), which marks certain advances compared to older instruments on minimum wage fixing, for instance, as regards its broader scope of application, the requirement for a comprehensive minimum wage system, and the enumeration of the criteria for the determination of minimum wage levels. The Committee requests the Government to keep the Office informed of any decision taken or envisaged in this regard.