A Lei do Trabalho 23/2007: que incentivos trás à competitividade e produtividade das empresas em Moçambique?

Abstract

The Labor Law is an instrument for regulating labor relations in the context of labor demand and supply. The previous Law, (Law 8/85), had a markedly interventionist tendency by the Government, in relation to the workforce; it was quite administrative and went into regulation details which in itself made its implementation difficult for the parties involved. This undermined the flexibility of labor supply and demand, with implications for the productivity and competitiveness of the economy as a whole. Mozambique has an uncompetitive labor market and very high levels of informality. The new Law (Law 23/2007) seeks to reverse this situation and create a more favorable environment for business development, basically focusing on three main aspects: (i) flexibility in labor relations, (ii) labor costs and ( iii) market institutions (the main cause of informality), as determinants of competitiveness and productivity of companies. The main argument of this Thesis is that the rationality of the capital/labor relationship should mainly reflect the gains or losses of the negotiation between the parties. In this context, State interference must be done with care not to harm the main objective, which is the improvement of productivity and competitiveness, as well as contributing to market flexibility, reducing informality and improving the living conditions of workers in a sustainable way.The new Law, by allowing a worker to be dismissed for six months and earn wages corresponding to one year, in the framework of absences considered justified, is not favoring this relationship and is implicitly creating a burden for companies and a low level of productivity . From a content point of view, there were no substantive changes in relation to the previous Law. The current Law only came to curb some aspects of the old Law, which made it rigid, quite costly and uncompetitive. The new law, by regulating labor relations, continues to exaggerately protect the minority group of the workforce that are formal wage earners, and does not advance with any measure that allows reversing the current situation of informality in Mozambique (source income of most of the population and generation of wealth in the national economy). The other aspect to consider is that it is in great profusion and interferes in aspects that a priori would be better portrayed in employment contracts and agreements, hence it is still a partial answer to some problems identified in relation to the previous law. Within the framework of free competition, an adequate Labor Law for Mozambique should be one that first of all privileges the willingness and convenience of the interested parties to establish the labor relationship. This perspective of the Law would allow housing both traditional and atypical forms of employment, which are the ones that currently create more employment opportunities, in developed economies as well as in underdeveloped ones.(TRADUÇÃO NOSSA)