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Is it a Statutory Duty to Pay National Employment Council (NEC) Dues in Zimbabwe?

The overall purpose of achieving industrial peace, social justice, democracy and securing the just, effective and expeditious resolution of disputes and unfair labour practices in Zimbabwe by extending coverage of a Collective Bargaining Agreement (“CBA”) upon all employers and employees in that undertaking, industry, trade or occupation is generally carried out by National Employment Councils in Zimbabwe which provide a system of checks and balances. see Nyararai & Others v Sino-Zimbabwe (Pvt) Ltd & Another 2020 (1) ZLR 165 (H).

It is common cause that National Employment Councils in Zimbabwe are established through the registration and publication of a CBA as a Statutory Instrument. Once the CBA has been registered, it immediately becomes binding from the date of its publication, not only to the parties and their members to the agreement but also on all employers, contractors and their employers in the undertaking, industry, trade or occupation to which the agreement relates.

It is important to note that every employer in an undertaking, industry, trade or occupation in Zimbabwe which falls under a particular National Employment Council is generally required within one month of the CBA coming into force, to notify the Secretary General of the National Employment Council of the names and business address, contact details, the number of employees in the company, the names of subsidiary companies in the same industry as well as a description of the trade and occupation carried on by the employer. see National Employment Council for the Communications and Allied Services Industry v Netone Cellular (Pvt) Ltd & Another CCZ 17-19.

The Supreme Court in National Employment Council for the Construction Industry v Zimbabwe Nantong International (Pvt) Ltd 2018 (1) ZLR 16 (S) held that:

“In the instant case, it must be accepted that the respondent’s duty to pay national employment dues is a statutory duty that arises from its employment relationship with its employees.”

Generally, all dues to a NEC are paid monthly in arrears falling due at the end of the month in which the wage or salary was earned for the purposes of meeting the expenses of the NEC. Resultantly, all employers and employees engaged in that undertaking, industry, trade or occupation are statutorily required from the date of publication of a CBA to pay dues to the National Employment Council (NEC) and all employers have a statutory obligation to deduct from the wage or salary of each of the said employees the appropriate due.