BY JAMES MUTASA

The National Employment Council for the Ferro – Alloy Industry in Zimbabwe recently rescued Ignatius Nyambira who was unlawfully dismissed by his employer Jinyu Enterprise Private Limited on allegation of unsatisfactory work performance by ordering reinstatement without loss of salary.

Nyambira was dismissed by Jinyu Private Limited on allegations of unsatisfactory work performance a charge derived from his failure to sign and record the security occurrence book, as a standard procedure required to all security guards during their working hours and used for a proper handover and take over.

According to the NEC Appeals Committee findings, Nyambira was unfairly dismissed.

‘There is an improper handover and take over system and there is no checklist which is signed by the incoming and outgoing security guards,’ the NEC Appeals Committee noted.

“It is observed there was deliberate flaunting of the code of conduct where the respondent (Jinyu Enterprise) was made aware that it is an anomaly for one to appear in the Investigation Committee then sit in the Disciplinary Hearing and also appear in the Appeals Committee,” the NEC Appeals Committee went on.

“In terms of the law, irregularities of civil matters are not considered unless they really affect the delivering of justice,” the NEC Appeals Committee added and concludes thus, “it is therefore determined that the Appellant (Nyambira) be reinstated on his post without the loss of salary.”

In this appeal to the NEC, Nyambira through his representative, James Nesvinga of the National Union of Metal and Allied Industries in Zimbabwe (NUMAIZ) argued that both the disciplinary hearing and the appeals committee at company level were not properly constituted. 

“In terms of the code sc 6.1, the composition of the disciplinary hearing committee was not properly constituted,” reads part of Nyambira’s appeal, which added, “In terms of the sc 8.1 the composition of the company appeals committee was not properly constituted.”

In upholding dismissal verdict of Nyambira by the Disciplinary Committee, the Appeals committee of Jinyu Enterprise admitted that the disciplinary hearing had flouted the code of conduct.

“The employee agreed to fail his duty as a security guard, irregularities were spotted on the appeal but the decision made was the correct call,” the Human Resources Officer of Jinyu Enterprise identified as Nherera pointed out, a decision which spurred Nyambirai to appeal to the National Employment Council against the unfair dismissal. 

“We warned Jinyu Enterprise that such unfair treatment of workers deeply annoys NUMAIZ and as a result we appealed to the National Employment Council which in turn overturns the illegal dismissal,” Nesvinga told The Worker.