Industrial Relations Division - Lusaka

25 judgments
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Results. 25 judgments found.

25 judgments
March 2026
Court allowed amendment and extension of time where termination arose from same facts as earlier suspension and no prejudice shown.
  • Civil procedure — amendment of pleadings; new cause of action permitted if arising from same or substantially same facts; extension of time under s.85(3) IRD Act; Employment Code v IRD Act time-limit conflict; avoidance of multiplicity of actions; prejudice
20 March 2026
January 2026
Resignation found ordinary, not constructive dismissal; employer lawfully deducted outstanding loan; all claims dismissed.
  • Employment law — Constructive dismissal — Fundamental breach of contract and intolerable work environment — Resignation as ordinary resignation; Loan recovery — Employer entitled to deduct outstanding employee loan from contractual dues; Costs — Industrial relations norm of each party bearing own costs applies.
22 January 2026
December 2025
Prolonged, procedurally defective suspensions and selective investigations amounted to constructive dismissal; award 24 months' salary each.
  • Employment law — Constructive dismissal — Prolonged/indefinite suspension on half pay — Failure to follow disciplinary code — Selective targeting and public humiliation (confiscation of phones) — Concurrent criminal and disciplinary investigations — Enhanced damages (24 months' salary).
9 December 2025
1 December 2025
September 2025
Complainant’s dismissal upheld: hearing given and audit evidence provided reasonable grounds; leave claim dismissed for lack of proof.
  • Employment law — dismissal — distinction between unfair (statutory) and wrongful (contractual) dismissal — requirement to be heard — substratum of fact and reasonableness standard in disciplinary dismissals — proof of entitlement to leave and non-retroactivity of later statutes.
30 September 2025
Complainant's claims for unpaid salary, gratuity, leave and overtime dismissed for lack of evidence.
  • 'Employment law — resignation — determination of effective resignation date and effect on terminal benefits','Gratuity — payable only on successful completion of contract; advances offset gratuity entitlement','Leave — statutory right to payment for accrued leave overrides contractual prohibition on conversion to cash','Overtime — entitlement requires employer recognition/approval; compensatory time off contractually provided','Burden of proof — claimant must substantiate unpaid wages and benefits with supporting evidence'
30 September 2025
Fixed‑term shop worker unlawfully terminated awarded unpaid wages, leave, notice pay, gratuity and damages.
  • Employment law — fixed‑term contract v. permanent employment; Shop Workers Order — protected employee; unpaid wages and accrued leave; notice pay and gratuity under Employment Code Act; unfair termination for failure to give reasons and hearing; application of Minimum Wages Order 2023.
30 September 2025
Failure to follow statutory redundancy procedure entitled employees to redundancy pay, damages, arrears, underpayments, wages until settlement, and costs.
  • Employment law — Redundancy procedure — s55 Employment Code Act 2019 — failure to follow statutory redundancy process — entitlement to redundancy pay (two months per year) and damages for unlawful termination; salary arrears and underpayments; continuation of wages until redundancy package paid; costs for non-appearance.
30 September 2025
Early retirement is discretionary; unauthorised absence justified lawful summary dismissal, limiting entitlements to accrued terminal benefits.
  • Employment law — Early retirement discretionary under collective agreement — Employee’s unilateral cessation of duties does not effect retirement — Summary dismissal justified for continuous unauthorised absence exceeding ten days — Entitlement on lawful summary dismissal limited to accrued wages and terminal benefits as per conditions of service — Salary not payable for periods not worked — Jurisdiction preserved where Registrar granted leave to file out of time; unpleaded issues may be considered where no objection.
5 September 2025
Unlawful termination without notice or hearing entitles the complainant to enhanced damages and accrued leave benefits.
  • Employment law — Unlawful/unfair termination — Failure to give notice or hearing — ECA sections 52, 53 — Damages measured by enhanced award above notice pay — Accrued leave benefits under Fifth Schedule — Gratuity payable only for fixed-term contracts — Costs for non-appearance.
4 September 2025
August 2025
Employer liable for unpaid salary increment and pension where remittance records absent; corporate separateness defeats holding-company claims.
  • Employment law — governing statute (repealed Employment Act) — Section 24(5) evidential presumption — burden of proof; Company law — separate legal personality and corporate veil; Contract interpretation — gratuity as a once-off conditional payment; Payroll and records — employer's duty to produce remittance/payroll documentation; Pension contributions — employer obligation and remedies where remittance records absent; Leave commutation — assessment where records are incomplete; Constitutional law — Article 189 retention on payroll applies to statutory pension benefits.
15 August 2025
July 2025
Court lacked jurisdiction because the applicant’s contract was with a Mauritius employer; assignment did not create Zambian employment.
  • Jurisdiction — employment dispute involving foreign employer; assignment versus contract of employment; governing law clause; forum competence.
3 July 2025
September 2024
Complainant awarded gratuity, leave, notice pay, allowances and six months’ damages; NAPSA claim and counterclaim dismissed.
  • Employment law — statutory minimum wages and conditions (S.I.106/2020) — gratuity, accrued leave, notice pay, subsistence and risk allowances — evidential burden for cross-border subsistence — NAPSA recovery procedure — unfair termination damages.
19 September 2024
March 2024
Whether the complainant was constructively dismissed and entitled to accrued leave or retirement benefits under the collective agreement.
  • Labour law — Constructive dismissal — resignation versus compelled exit; burden of proof for accrued leave pay; applicability of collective agreements and NAPSA to retirement benefits; inapplicability of Minimum Wages/General Order gratuity where conditions are set by collective bargaining; employer’s counterclaim for notice pay when final dues were paid.
1 March 2024
February 2024
An employer must pay an available employee and reinstate benefits pending redeployment; the discrimination claim failed under s.108.
  • Employment law — secondment and redeployment — obligation to redeploy when suitable vacancy identified — employer’s duty to pay salary to an employee available and willing to work — discrimination claim outside s.108 I&LR Act not established.
8 February 2024
December 2023
Fixed‑term employee wrongly dismissed during alleged probation is entitled to contractual liquidated damages (full gratuity).
  • Employment law — fixed‑term contract v. probation — whether fixed‑term Grade Z10 appointment attracted probation; wrongful/unfair termination for lack of reasons and hearing; enforceability of contractual liquidated damages clause (full gratuity at 35%).
11 December 2023
September 2023
Employer who prevented employee serving notice cannot deprive employee of accrued leave pay; terminal benefits not proved.
  • Employment law — resignation and notice — accrued leave pay payable where employer prevents an employee serving notice; burden of proof for terminal benefits; employer duty to provide employment policies; costs for unreasonable conduct.
30 September 2023
August 2023
Unilateral adverse variation of salary and start date rendered employee redundant; partial NAPSA contributions owed.
  • Employment law — unilateral variation of fundamental terms — redundancy by adverse alteration; Constructive dismissal — requirement of prompt resignation and repudiatory breach; Statutory pension — employer NAPSA contributions tied to payroll liability; Housing provision — employer options under Employment Code; Damages for mental anguish — exceptional circumstances required.
29 August 2023
August 2022
Complainant failed to prove employment; uncorroborated oral evidence insufficient to establish entitlement to employment benefits.
  • Employment law — existence of employer–employee relationship — burden of proof on balance of probabilities — weight of uncorroborated oral evidence — casual piece‑work v. company employment — entitlement to contractual benefits.
4 August 2022
Complainants awarded redundancy, leave, notice pay and unpaid salary; lunch and housing allowances not proven.
  • Employment law — redundancy and termination due to COVID-19 — entitlement to redundancy pay, notice pay and leave in lieu — salary underpayment — burden of proof for contractual allowances — interest on awards — referral to Registrar for quantification.
3 August 2022
Whether the applicant was fairly dismissed and entitled to severance or unpaid leave under employment law.
  • Employment law — contract classification: long-term contract vs permanent employment; Employment Code s54(3) — exclusion of long-term contract employees from severance; procedural fairness in disciplinary/summar y dismissal — requirement to serve charge and reliable minutes; unpaid accrued leave entitlement and computation under Minimum Wages Orders; remedy: one month's salary for unfair dismissal, referral to Registrar for leave pay computation; interest and costs.
2 August 2022
July 2022
26 July 2022
May 2022
Applicant's claim for terminal benefits after summary dismissal dismissed; paid wages and leave; severance not available retroactively.
  • Employment law — Summary dismissal — Entitlement under s.51(2) limited to wages and accrued benefits; Collective agreement applicability determined by effective date; Severance under s.54 non‑retroactive; Exhaustion of administrative channels vs. 90‑day jurisdiction rule.
23 May 2022
July 2021
26 July 2021
December 2020
Contractual termination by payment in lieu for unsatisfactory performance was lawful; no wrongful, unfair or unlawful dismissal found.
  • Employment law — termination v dismissal — contractual termination by notice/payment in lieu — performance‑based termination — appraisal criteria changes — wrongful and unfair dismissal tested by procedure and substance — audi alteram partem not mandatory for contractual notice termination — damages for unearned future salary not recoverable.
31 December 2020