“You'll Be Fired if You Refuse” - Human Rights Watch

Watch said they believed the long hours contributed to avoidable accidents. According to a
miner at CCS, “Accidents happen because people are stressed from the long hours—they
are tired, so they are not looking after their safety.” 254
In its response, CNMC denied the safety concerns, saying that “research and investigation
by relevant foreign agencies (mainly Australia copper companies and other relevant
research departments) have shown that the impact [of a 12-hour shift on workers’ mental
and physical health] is not significant.” 255
ILO Recommendation 183 states that:
[C]onsultations provided for by Article 3 of the Convention [ILO No. 176] should
include consultations with the most representative organizations of employers
and workers on the effect of the length of working hours, night work and shift
work on workers’ safety and health. After such consultations, the Member
should take the necessary measures in relation to working time and, in
particular, to maximum daily working hours and minimum daily rest periods. 256
ICESCR provides that states “recognize the right of everyone to the enjoyment of just and
favourable conditions of work which ensure, in particular …. [r]est, leisure and reasonable
limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.” 257
As noted, Zambian labor law recognizes a 48-hour work week as standard. Any weekly
work beyond 48 hours is to be paid at one and a half times the employee’s hourly pay. 258 In
addition, work on public holidays or Sundays, “where a Sunday does not form a part of the
normal working week,” should be paid double. 259 Despite these provisions, a union
representative and miners from NFCA, Sino Metals, and CCS all identified consistent
disputes over overtime pay. 260 At NFCA, miners told Human Rights Watch that overtime was
254 Human Rights Watch interview with miner A in the water treatment plant at CCS, Kitwe, November 6, 2010.
255 Letter from CNMC to Human Rights Watch, October 8, 2011.
256 ILO Recommendation No. 183: Safety and Health in Mines Recommendation, June 22, 1995, provision 3(2).
257 ICESCR, art. 7.
258 Republic of Zambia, Chapter 276: The Minimum Wages and Conditions of Employment Act, art. 4(1). Hourly pay is
determined by dividing the employee’s monthly basic wages by 208 hours. Ibid., art. 4(3).
259 Republic of Zambia, Chapter 276: The Minimum Wages and Conditions of Employment Act, art. 4(2).
260 A miner from China Luanshya Mine, by contrast, told Human Rights Watch: “If you work overtime, you are properly paid.
We had some problems with this when the Chinese first came on, but it wasn’t actually the Chinese who were the problem.
The problem was the [Zambian] managers. They would demand that we work over, but then not let us get it approved formally.
And then we would be told that since it wasn’t formally approved, we couldn’t be paid for it. That’s CLM’s rule, that overtime
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