Economic expert Salwindi Notulu has urged the […]

Economic expert Salwindi Notulu has urged the Zambian government to adopt a productivity-based wage system if it wants the proposed multi-job reforms to work.

His reaction comes after the Government announced plans to amend labour laws to allow Zambians to legally hold and perform several jobs from different companies within the same day, arguing this will increase incomes and labour market flexibility amid high unemployment and rising living costs.

Speaking in an interview with Zambian Business Times – ZBT, Notulu said the reforms could improve productivity by allowing skills to be utilized across different workplaces, particularly under the proposed 24-hour economy.

 “The reforms are good in that they can allow people with different positions to utilize their expertise in more than one place, which can increase productivity, but they cannot be introduced without doing the necessary groundwork,” he said.

 Notulu explained that the reforms must also be aligned with existing labour, taxation and other regulations to avoid creating conflicts that could undermine the intended benefits.

“We need to make sure that the reforms are in line with other policies and regulations because if regulations start overlapping or contradicting each other, something that is meant to improve production can end up affecting the economy negatively,” he said.

Notulu added that the Government must also address worker welfare and fatigue, particularly for employees such as drivers who could potentially work for different companies during the day and night.

“If a driver works during the day for one bus company and at night for another, issues of fatigue can arise, so we need proper systems to ensure that flexibility does not create risks for workers or employers,” he said.

Notulu further said enforcement could become a major challenge because labour officers currently face limitations in conducting workplace inspections, including inadequate transport and protective equipment.

He said taxation rules would also need to be reviewed, particularly how Pay As You Earn – PAYE would apply to workers receiving income from several employers.

“We also need to look at ZRA and its taxation reforms because if someone has two jobs, we need to clearly define how their PAYE will be calculated instead of treating the additional income like ordinary side consulting,” he said.

Notulu said Zambia should consider moving away from a rigid salary structure towards wages linked to measurable productivity, allowing workers to be paid according to the output or targets they achieve.

 “If we change from salaries to a wage system where productivity determines how much someone earns, workers can know what is expected of them and this can give them greater flexibility to move between different jobs while still delivering results,” he said.

 He said a productivity-based system could allow employers to focus more on output than simply the number of hours an employee spends at a workplace, but warned that the proposed reforms require proper safeguards before implementation.

Article by Phillip Sinkala