THE LABOUR COMMISSIONER

< REPUBLIC OF ZAMBIA EMPLOYMENT CODE ACT No. 3 OF 2019

9. Labour Commissioner and other staff

(1) The President shall, on the recommendation of the Civil Service Commission, appoint as a public officer, the Labour Commissioner, who is responsible for the administration of the provisions of this Act.

(2) The Civil Service Commission shall appoint assistant labour commissioners, labour officers and other officers that are necessary for the administration of this Act.

(3) The Labour Commissioner may, subject to this Act, and the general or special directions of the Minister, delegate any of the Labour Commissioner’s functions to a labour officer, labour inspector or any person as may be necessary for the administration of this Act.

10. Powers of Labour Commissioner

(1) The Labour Commissioner may—

(a) enter freely at any reasonable time, whether by day or by night to inspect, any premises or conveyance where the Labour Commissioner reasonably believes persons are employed;

(b) enter by day any premises in order to carry out any examination, test or inquiry that the Labour Commissioner considers necessary in order to determine if the provisions of this Act are being complied with;

(c) interview, whether alone or in the presence of a witness, an employer or employee on any matter concerning the application of a provision of this Act;

(d) question a person who the Labour Commissioner considers has useful information, except that the person shall not be required to answer any question that may tend to prejudice or incriminate that person;

(e)require the production for examination of any book, register, account or other document, the keeping of which is prescribed by this Act;

(f) make copies of documents or to take extracts of documents that the Labour Commissioner may consider necessary;

(g) remove a book, register, account or other document that the Labour Commissioner may consider necessary; and

(h) enforce the posting of notices in a place and manner that may be prescribed.

(2) The power under subsection (1)(a) shall, in relation to a private dwelling house or any land or building occupied as a private dwelling, be exercised during the day with a warrant.

(3) Where the Labour Commissioner removes a book, register, account or other document under subsection (1)(g), the Labour Commissioner shall give a receipt in respect of the book, register, account or other document to the employer or the employer’s representative and return the book, register, account or other document as soon as is practicable after achieving the purpose for which it was removed.

(4) The Labour Commissioner shall, on the occasion of an inspection or visit, notify the employer or the employer’s representative of the Labour Commissioner’s presence, unless the Labour Commissioner considers that the notification may be prejudicial to the performance of the Labour Commissioner’s duties.

(5) Where the Labour Commissioner has reason to believe that a provision of this Act is likely to be or has been contravened, the Labour Commissioner may—

(a) issue a written notice specifying the contravention and the preventative or remedial measure to be undertaken within a specified period; and

(b) if necessary, order suspension of further work, except that an employee shall be on full pay, until the preventive or remedial measure referred to in paragraph (a) is undertaken and approved by the Labour Commissioner.

(6) An employer who is directed to prevent or rectify a contravention under subsection (5) may—

(a) where the period within which the preventative or remedial measure is to be carried out is specified, appeal to the Minister against the direction, within seven days before the expiry of the period specified in the notice; or

(b) where no period is specified, appeal to the Minister no later than seven days from the receipt of the direction.

(7) The Minister shall, determine an appeal lodged under subsection (6) within thirty days.

(8) An employer who fails to comply with a directive of the Labour Commissioner under subsection (5) commits an offence and is liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding two hundred thousand penalty units or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or to both.

(9) An employer who is aggrieved with the decision of the Minister under this section may, appeal to the High Court.

(10) The powers conferred or imposed on the Labour Commissioner in this section are in addition to any other powers conferred or imposed on the Labour Commissioner by or under any other written law.

(11) The powers conferred on the Labour Commissioner under this section may be exercised by a labour officer or labour inspector.

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11. Certificate of appointment

(1) The Labour Commissioner shall provide a labour officer with a certificate of appointment in the prescribed form, which is prima facie evidence of the labour officer’s appointment.

(2) A labour officer shall, in performing any function under this Act—

(a) be in possession of the certificate of appointment referred to in subsection (1); and

(b) show the certificate of appointment to any person who requests to see the certificate or is subject to an inspection under this Act.

(3) A person who forges or unlawfully alters a certificate of appointment referred to in subsection (1), commits an offence and is liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding two hundred thousand penalty units or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or to both.

12. Power to require returns Act No. 13 of 2018

(1) Subject to the Statistics Act, 2018, the Labour Commissioner may require an employer or employment agency to collect statistics that the LabourCommissionermay reasonably consider necessary in respect of any employees or persons engaged through an employment agency.

(2) The Labour Commissioner may require an employer or employment agency to submit returns, in the prescribed manner and form, based on statistics, and at intervals that the Labour Commissioner may consider necessary.

(3) A person who fails to comply with a requirement of the Labour Commissioner under this section commits an offence and is liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding two hundred thousand penalty units.

13. Duties of public officer

(1) A public officer who discharges a duty of a public nature under the provisions of this Act shall not have any pecuniary interest, directly or indirectly, in any undertaking under that public officer’s supervision.

(2) A person who, in the exercise of the powers or in the performance of the person’s duties under this Act, acquires information relating to the financial affairs, or the secret processes, or the plant or equipment of a person, firm or business, shall not, except for the purposes of legal proceedings under thisAct, disclose that information to another person.

(3) The duty not to disclose confidential information under subsection (2), does not apply where the information is required by—

(a) a court of law or any person who, by law, is vested with the power to compel the disclosure of the information; or

(b) the Labour Commissioner or any person acting for the purposes of performing the Labour Commissioner’s or person’s functions under this Act.

(4) A person who contravenes this section commits an offence and is liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding two hundred thousand penalty units or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or to both.