LABOUR RIGHTS INDEX 2022

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LRI 2022
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lri 2022 Country Profiles

Zambia

Trade Union Indicator

The Labour Rights Index 2022 (LRI 2022) is a de-jure index covering 135 economies and structured around the working lifespan of a worker. In total, 46 questions or evaluation criteria are scored across 10 indicators. The overall score is calculated by taking the average of each indicator, with 100 being the highest possible score. The Index uses a rating system, ranging from “Total Lack of Decent Work” to “Decent Work”. The Labour Rights Index aims at an active contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals, by providing necessary (complementary) insights into de jure provisions on issues covered in particular by SDG8 (Decent Jobs), SDG 5 (Gender Equality), SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities) and SDG 16 (Strong Institutions). The Index is based on national labour legislation, applicable on 1 January 2022. The Index does not take into account COVID-19 related labour market measures in its scoring.

Zambia’s overall score is 69 out of 100. The overall score for Zambia is higher than the regional average observed across Sub-Saharan Africa (64.4). Within the Sub-Saharan Africa region, the highest score is observed for Guinea (80.5).

Zambia ratified Convention No. 87 on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) in 1996 and Convention No. 98 on the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) in 1996.

Labour Rights Index 2022

69/100

LRI Country Score

25/100

Trade Union Indicator

23.92 %

Trade union density rate (%)

27.6 %

Collective bargaining coverage rate (%)

2.21

SDG indicator 8.8.2

4

ITUC Global Rights Index 2022 Ratings

Question

Answer

Score

Legal Basis

Violation

Does the law allow workers to form and join unions of their own choice?

No

0

§9(2 &8c) of the Industrial and Labour Relation Act, 1993

A

Does the law allow workers to bargain collectively with employers through their representative unions?

Yes

1

§65-74 and 79-83, Industrial and Labour Relation Act 1993

No Violation Found

Does the law provide for the right to strike?

No

0

§78, Industrial and Labour Relation Act 1993 ; CEACR, C87, Obs. 2018

B

Does the law prohibit employers from terminating employment contracts of striking workers?

No

0

§5, 85(8) & 100 of the Industrial and Labour Relation Act, 1993; ITUC Global Rights Index 2022, Zambia profile

A / C

Textual sources

A : National Law

National Labour Legislation

B : CEACR

CEACR: ILO Committee of Experts on Application of Conventions and Recommendations (latest report)

C : ITUC

ITUC: ITUC Global Rights Index 2022

D : USDOS

USDOS: US Department of States' Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2021

LRI Country Score
The Labour Rights Index has 10 indicators and 46 sub-indicators. The LRI Country score averages 10 indicators and ranges between 0 and 100. The lowest and highest scorers are Nigeria (29/100) and Belgium/Greece (96/100). https://labourrightsindex.org/  

Trade Union Indicator
The trade union indicator is composed of 4 sub-indicators. Scoring is done through the binary method (0 or 1). The score ranges between 0-100. 

Trade union density rate (%)
The trade union density rate conveys the number of union members who are employees as a percentage of the total number of employees in the country. For updated statistics on trade union density, please check ILOSTAT. 

Collective bargaining coverage rate (%)
The collective bargaining coverage rate conveys the number of employees whose pay and/or conditions of employment are determined by one or more collective agreement(s) as a percentage of the total number of employees in the country. For updated statistics on collective bargaining coverage, please check ILOSTAT. 

SDG indicator 8.8.2
SDG indicator 8.8.2 measures national compliance with fundamental labour rights (freedom of association and collective bargaining or FACB). It ranges from 0 to 10, with 0 being the best possible score (indicating higher levels of compliance with FACB rights) and 10 the worst (indicating lower levels of compliance with FACB rights). It is based on six ILO supervisory body textual sources and national legislation.
For an updated assessment on SDG indicator 8.8.2, please check ILOSTAT. 

ITUC Global Rights Index 2022 Ratings
The ITUC Global Rights Index depicts the world’s worst countries for workers by rating 148 countries on a scale from 1 to 5+ on the degree of respect for workers’ rights. Violations are recorded each year from April to March.  For a detailed description of ratings and methodology, please follow the link. 

To find an ITUC affiliate in your country, please check the LINK:

Violations

National Labour Legislation
§9(2 &8c) of the Industrial and Labour Relation Act, 1993

9. Application for registration of trade union
(1) Subject to subsection (3), a body shall not be registered as a trade union with the Commissioner unless it has a membership of not less than one hundred persons.
(2) An application to register as a trade union shall be in the prescribed form signed by one hundred supporters and shall be accompanied by a copy of the constitution of the proposed trade union.

(8) No body registering as a trade union shall be registered—

(a) under a name identical to or by which any other trade union has been registered or so nearly resembles such name as to be likely to deceive its own members or members of the public;
(b) if it does not comply with the conditions of registration which the Minister may by statutory instrument prescribe; or
(c) if it purports to represent a class or classes of employees already represented by an existing trade union or are eligible for membership of an existing trade union unless the union intended to be registered represents a specific trade or profession or category or eligible employees who are qualified to form a trade union.

Violations

No Violation

Violations

ILO Committee of Experts on Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR)
CEACR, C87, Obs. 2018

Article 3
-section 7(3), which allows a labour commissioner to prohibit a trade union officer from holding office in any trade union for a period of one year if, following the commissioner’s refusal to register the union, this union is not dissolved within six months. In this respect, the Committee once again recalls that an act, the nature of which is not such as to call into question the integrity of the person concerned and is not such as to be prejudicial to the performance of trade union duties, should not constitute grounds for disqualification from trade union office.
-section 21(5) and (6), which confers on the Commissioner the power to suspend and appoint an interim executive board of a trade union, as well as to dissolve the board and call for a fresh election.
-sections 18(1)(b) and 43(1)(a), under which, a person, having been an officer of an employers’ or workers’ organization whose certificate of registration has been cancelled, may be disqualified from being an officer of a trade union if that person fails to satisfy the commissioner that she or he did not contribute to the circumstances leading to such cancellation.
-section 78(4), which limits the maximum duration of a strike to 14 days, after which, if the dispute remains unsolved, it is referred to the court; section 78(6)–(8), under which a strike can be discontinued if it is found by the court not to be “in the public interest”; section 78(1), under which, as interpreted by a decision of the industrial relations court, either party may take an industrial dispute to court; section 107, which prohibits strikes in essential services, defined too broadly, and empowers the Minister to add other services to the list of essential services, in consultation with the tripartite consultative labour council; and which empowers a police officer to arrest, without any possibility of bail, a person who is believed to be striking in an essential service and which imposes a fine and up to six months’ imprisonment.

Violations

National Labour Legislation / ITUC Global Rights Index 2022
§100 of the Industrial and Labour Relation Act, 1993

100. (1) Where any person or in combination with others wilfully break a contract of
service or of hire, knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that the probable
consequence of their so doing will endanger human life or cause serious bodily injury or
expose any property, whether real or personal, to destruction or serious injury, shall be
guilty of an offence and liable, upon conviction, to a fine not exceeding four hundred
penalty units or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to both.

ITUC Global Rights Index 2022, Zambia profile

Any person who engages in strike action, knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that the probable consequence of their so doing will endanger human life or cause serious bodily injury or expose any real or personal property to destruction or serious injury, shall be guilty of an offence and liable, upon conviction, to a fine not exceeding 20,000 kwacha or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to both (section 100(1), Industrial and Labour Relations Act)