working all day. He’s paying them R500. He’s not showing these [to the labor
inspectors].”147
Section 13 of the Sectoral Determination makes overtime work contingent on the
employer concluding an agreement with the farm worker. Section 14 stipulates how
overtime work must be paid. Failure to comply with overtime regulations violates
workers’ constitutional right to “fair labor practices.”
A Zimbabwean farm store worker, who said his hours were from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. but
that he often was required to work overtime, and even up to 2 a.m. during Christmas
time, said he got paid R3.70 (US52¢) per hour.148 Besides not paying the minimum
hourly rate for farm workers (R4.54 or US64¢), the employer had not obtained the
worker’s consent to overtime work and did not pay, as required, the higher overtime pay
rate. On a Weipe farm, a Zimbabwean permanent worker earned the monthly minimum
wage but complained that he had to work overtime and did not get paid for it.149
Employers’ failure to comply with provisions governing deductions
from wages
Human Rights Watch found numerous violations of section 8 of the Sectoral
Determination that governs employer deductions from farm workers’ wages. These
included unlawful deductions for accommodation, electricity and other services, goods
purchased at a store, life insurance, and deferred wage payments. These deductions
deprive workers of the right to “fair labor practices” that are protected in section 23 of
the constitution.
Section (8)3 of the Sectoral Determination specifies that a deduction for accommodation
is permitted only if the house meets prescribed standards. The house must have a roof
that is durable and waterproof; glass windows that can be opened; electricity must be
available inside the house if the infrastructure exists on the farm; safe water must be
available inside the house or within 100 meters from the house; a flush toilet or pit
latrine must be available in, or in close proximity, to the house; and the house must be
not less than 30 square meters in size.
On a Weipe farm, we learned that workers who lived in small self-built clay houses
without electricity and with toilets too far away for use were having R50 (US$7.08) per
147
Human Rights Watch interview with a Zimbabwean farm worker, Weipe, April 23, 2006.
Human Rights Watch interview with a Zimbabwean farm store worker, Tshipise, April 30, 2006.
149
Human Rights Watch interview with a Zimbabwean farm worker, Weipe, April 27, 2006.
148
41
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH VOLUME 18. NO. 6(A)
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