Relief for agric sector

RYAN CHIGOCHE

 

The National Employment Council (NEC) for the agriculture industry  has exempted  employees and employers from paying full monthly dues for a three months period to  April this year owing to the adverse impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, Business Times can report.

The  move to assist the agriculture sector will see the sector employees paying dues  equal to 1.5% of their basic wage while employers will pay 1.5% of total wage bill, all reduced from 2.5% .

Thereafter, the deductions will revert back to the regular rate of 2.5%.

NEC chief executive officer David Madyausiku said the Covid-19 pandemic has caused untold suffering to both the workers and the employers.

Many businesses were struggling to stay afloat as there were disruptions to normal service delivery.

Employees on the other hand were also struggling to feed their families as a result of the pandemic as they also had to put up with costs associated with the Covid-19 pandemic.

“In view of the risk posed by the continued increases in positive Covid-19 cases in the country, NEC has extended the industry wide partial exemption from NEC Agriculture dues granted in terms of Notice 096/2021 for a further 3 months,” Madyausiku said.

He added: “Therefore for the months February, March and April  2022, each employee shall pay dues equal to 1.5% of the monthly total basic wage and the employer will pay dues equal to 1.5% of the total wage bill for the enterprise.

“NEC trusts that the announcement of this partial exemption will allow agricultural enterprises to budget accordingly and employees and employers will enjoy some financial relief during this perilous period.’’

The NEC for the Agricultural Industry in Zimbabwe was established in 1991 with the broad objective of advancing social justice and democracy in the Agriculture Industry.

It seeks to advance social justice and democracy at the workplace by providing a legal framework within which employees and employers can bargain collectively for the improvement of conditions of employment, giving effect to fair labour standards and the fundamental rights of employers and employees provided for by the Constitution of Zimbabwe, Labour Act [Chapter 28:01] and all other labour laws and regulations.

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