The Labour Court is created in terms of section 84 of the Labour Act [Chapter 28:01]. It is a creature of statute and its area of jurisdiction is only as provided for within the four corners of the Act.
Composition
It consists of a Senior President and other Presidents of the Labour Court. With the recent operationalisation of the Judicial Service Act, the Labour Court now falls under the authority of the Judicial Service Commission as headed by the Chief Justice. The Senior President is possessed of the overall administrative responsibility of the operations of this court.
The Labour Court is currently located in three centres, namely Harare, Bulawayo and Gweru.
The functions of the Labour Court may be exercised by one or more Presidents sitting either by themselves or with one or more assessors. In the event of an equal division in opinions of the Presidents, the decision of the presiding President shall be the decision of the whole court. Assessors do not have a voice in any question of law.
Jurisdiction
The jurisdiction of the Labour Court is specified in section 89 of the Act. Generally, it is an appeal court for a variety of labour disputes, although in a few cases it is a court of first instance. An example of the latter is where a dispute may arise in relation to the extent or description of any undertaking or industry represented by a trade union. Such a dispute may be referred directly to the Labour Court for determination.
An appeal from any decision of the Labour Court lies to the Supreme Court, but this is only in relation to a question of law. |
89 Functions, powers and jurisdiction of Labour Court
(1) The Labour Court shall exercise the following functions—
(a) hearing and determining applications and appeals in terms of this Act or any other enactment; and
(b) hearing and determining matters referred to it by the Minister in terms of this Act; and
(c) referring a dispute to a labour officer, designated agent or a person appointed by the Labour Court to conciliate the dispute if the Labour Court considers it expedient to do so;
(d) appointing an arbitrator from the panel of arbitrators referred to in subsection (6) of section ninety-eight to hear and determine an application;
(d1) exercise the same powers of review as would be exercisable by the High Court in respect of labour matters; [Paragraph inserted by section 29 of Act 7 of 2005]
(e) doing such other things as may be assigned to it in terms of this Act or any other enactment.
(2) In the exercise of its functions, the Labour Court may—
(a) in the case of an appeal—
(i) conduct a hearing into the matter or decide it on the record; or
(ii) confirm, vary, reverse or set aside the decision, order or action that is appealed against, or substitute its own decision or order; or
(iii) ….
[Subparagraph repealed by section 29 of Act 7 of 2005]
(iv) …..
[Subparagraph repealed by section 29 of Act 7 of 2005]
(b) in the case of an application made in terms of subparagraph (i) of subsection (7) of section ninety-three, remit it to the same or a different labour officer with instructions directing that officer to attempt to resolve it in accordance with such guidelines as it may specify;
(c) in the case of an application made in terms of subparagraph (ii) of subsection (7) of section ninety-three, make an order for any of the following or any other appropriate order—
(i) back pay from the time when the dispute or unfair labour practice arose;
(ii) in the case of an unfair labour practice involving a failure or delay to pay or grant anything due to an employee, the payment by the employer concerned to the employee or someone acting on his behalf of such amount, whether as a lump sum or by way of instalments, as will, in the opinion of the Labour Court, adequately compensate the employee for any loss or prejudice suffered as a result of the unfair labour practice;
(iii) reinstatement or employment in a job:
Provided that—
(i) any such determination shall specify an amount of damages to be awarded to the employee concerned as an alternative to his reinstatement or employment;
(ii) in deciding whether to award damages or reinstatement or employment, onus is on the employer to prove that the employment relationship is no longer tenable, taking into account the size of the employer, the preferences of the employee, the situation in the labour market and any other relevant factors;
(iii) should damages be awarded instead of reinstatement or employment as a result of an untenable working relationship arising from unlawful or wrongful dismissal by the employer, punitive damages may be imposed;
[Proviso substituted by section 29 of Act 7 of 2005]
(iv) insertion into a seniority list at an appropriate point;
(v) promotion or, if no promotion post exists, pay at a higher rate pending promotion;
(vi) payment of legal fees and costs;
(vii) cessation of the unfair labour practice;
(d) in the case of an application other than one referred to in paragraph (b) or (c), or a reference, make such determination or order or exercise such powers as may be provided for in the appropriate provision of this Act;
(e) subject to subsections (3) and (4), make such order as to costs as the Labour Court thinks fit.
(3) The costs in connection with any proceedings before the Labour Court shall be payable in accordance with the scale of costs for the time being in use in the court of a magistrate in civil cases, unless the person presiding over the Labour Court directs that the scale of costs for the time being in use in the High Court shall apply. (4) Any costs awarded by the Labour Court shall be taxed by the registrar of the Labour Court in terms of subsection (3) and the taxation of such costs shall be subject to review by a President of the Labour Court at the instance of any interested party.
(5) For the purpose of taking evidence on any question before it, the Labour Court shall have the same powers as the High Court to summon witnesses, to cause the oath to be administered to them, to examine them and to call for the production of books, plans and documents.
(6) No court, other than the Labour Court, shall have jurisdiction in the first instance to hear and determine any application, appeal or matter referred to in subsection (1).
