CBZ retrenchment selection criteria was unscientific; targeted ‘new’ workers and expectant mothers

Business Reporter

THE ongoing retrenchment exercise at CBZ Holdings (CBZH) did not use a scientific selection criteria but was rather subjective, targeting employees with a few years in service as well as female workers due for maternity leave, documents exchanged internally have alleged.

Documents currently exchanging hands at the institution seen by our publication show that complaints on allegations of abandoning a scientific approach in selecting workers set  for retrenchment in favor of an allegedly subjective and biased method.

“Towards the end of January 2025, the CBZ GCEO, Lawrence Nyazema, unilaterally announced a change of selection criteria from Expression of Interest to subjective use of qualifications, skills, experience, assessments as well as performance and employment history as forming basis for selection criteria for staff placement in the new structures as appropriate ,”  one of the documents leaked from within reads.

 In that regard, the document alleged, the GCEO advised that the organisation to abandon the scientific process in favor of a  human based as led by Heads of Departments via ‘virtual Townhall’ for every employee, where HODs became integral to the process.

The document alleges that the result of abandoning Project Papillion, the initially adopted scientific selection criteria, was that the entire process became based on speculation.

“Particularly, the confusion started when the employer unilaterally abandoned the papillon restructuring process was abandoned and abruptly issued the notices to retrench. What then followed were grave injustices which remained unexplained during the retrenchment engagements.Employees were shocked to receive notices that they were being retrenched as the notices did not specify the reason or criteria used to place the specific employee on the said retrenchment,” the document alleged.

Instead, the document went on , the employer gave a generic notice letter to all affected employees, which did not speak to any established criteria vis a vis the employee’s experience or personal circumstances violating Section 12C(3)(b)] of the Labour Act for retrenchment.

 “This moreso as reasons are peremptory and none of the employees affected were advised of the reason they were selected so as to place them in a position to make factual representations on fairness or otherwise of the selection criteria. The failure to share the selection criteria so that it be tested for fairness, gave rise to the following serious concerns:

“Realisation that employees who were due to go on maternity or who were on maternity were targeted and prejudiced.Secondly, the relisation that employees with short periods of service were also targeted,” the document added.

The CBZH communications department had not responded to questions forwarded on the subject matter at the time of publishing.