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The Active Population in Figures

Working Conditions

Legal Weekly Duration

Maximum 8 hours per day, 48 hours a week.

Retirement Age

Standard pension: age 55 (or age 60 for persons whose insurance period began after August 14, 2015) with at least 180 months of contributions (reduced by 12 months for each year above age 38 for persons aged 39 to 48 on February 1, 2000).
Early pension: age 50 (or age 55 for persons whose insurance period began after August 14, 2015) and meets the contribution requirements for an old-age pension.

Working Contracts

In accordance with the Employment Act Cap. 268 working contracts can be either in oral or writing.
Even in the case of oral contracts, the law requires preparation of a "record of service" in duplicate to be handed over to the employee within one month of commencement of contract. Such record of contract must contain: the name and sex of the employee and his nationality, the name, address and occupation of the employer, date at which the employee has been hired, his position, the type of contract, the place of hiring, the rate of wages and any additional payments in kind, and the intervals of payment.
A written contract is required in the case of contracts of six months or longer duration or contracts of Foreign Service or for some specific tasks which is expected not to be completed within six months.

Labour Laws

Consult Doing Business Website, to obtain a summary of the labor regulations that apply to local entreprises.

Cost of Labour

Minimum Wage

Domestic workers ZMK 993.6/month
Grade 1 shop workers and general workers ZMK 1,698.6/month
Driver , Sales Assistant, Packer ZMK 1,994.4/month
Salesperson ZMK 2,973.9/month
Qualified Clerk ZMK 3,151.35/month

Source: Statutory Instrument No. 71 of 2018

Social Contributions

Social Security Contributions Paid By Employers: 5% (capped at MW 1,073.80 per employee per month)
Social Security Contributions Paid By Employees: Employers must match employees’ contributions to the National Pension Scheme Authority (NAPSA). Employee contributions to the NAPSA are capped at the lower of 5% of annual basic salary or ZMW 11 940 per annum.

Social security contributions paid by employers: 5% of covered payroll.
Social security contributions paid by employees: 5% of covered payroll.
Social security contributions paid by self-employed person: 10% of covered earnings.

Social Partners

Social Dialogue and Involvement of Social Partners

The law provides for the right of workers, except for police, military personnel, and certain other categories of workers, to form and join independent unions, conduct legal strikes, and bargain collectively.
The law also requires the registration of a trade union with the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, who has the power to refuse official registration on arbitrary, unjustified, or ambiguous grounds. Unions must have at least 25 members, and no trade union may be registered if it claims to represent a class of employees already represented by an existing trade union (subject to exceptions).
Labor disputes between employers and employees are settled by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security. In cases involving the unjustified dismissal of employees, the ministry settles disputes through social dialogue, and any unresolved cases are sent to the Industrial Relations Court.

Labour Unions

Unionisation Rate

There are no official statistics regarding the total number of trade union members in Zambia. According to a report by the Danish Trade Union Council for International Development Cooperation, the total number of trade union members was 327,111 (or 5.5% of the labour force) in 2014.

Labour Regulation Bodies

Ministry of Labour and Social Security