91. From the myriad of cases on the subject of fair labour practices, it is almost
settled that, what constitutes a ‘fair labour practice’ will be determined on a
case-by-case basis taking into account the specific circumstances of each case.
See, for example, the case of Lameck Moyo v National Bank of Malawi
MSCA Civil Appeal Number 19 of 2009.
92. In the ANE Sakala Case, a practice by an employer which was found to be
discriminatory in terms of section 20 of the Constitution was also found to be
unfair in terms of section 31 of the Constitution. In essence, the practice was
deemed to be unreasonable as between the employer and the employee.
93. Looking at section 11 of the Pension Act it empowers the Minister responsible
for finance to exempt certain categories of employees from the mandatory
occupational pension scheme. Through the Pension (Exemption) Order the
Minister included domestic workers on the list of exempted employees.
94. In this respect, we further agree with Counsel for the Defendants that on
account of the arguments on the right to equality, the exclusion from the
mandatory occupational pension scheme of domestic workers does not entail
that domestic workers have been discriminated against, which in turn would
perpetuate unfairness within the meaning of unfair labour practices in the
ANE Sakala Case. We thus conclude that exempting domestic workers from
the mandatory occupational pension scheme does not violate the right to fair
labour practices in section 31 of the Constitution.
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