An employer demands extra hours as a condition of keeping the job, without paying overtime rates
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The Situation
What They Said
“Everyone works until the job is done. If you don't stay late, don't bother coming back tomorrow.”
Unpaid overtime and excessive working hours are widespread in Zambia across retail, hospitality, domestic service, and manufacturing. Employers frame extra hours as a loyalty test or a condition of continued employment. The Employment Code Act 2019 sets maximum working hours and requires that overtime be compensated at a premium rate. Threatening dismissal for refusing unlawful overtime is itself an unlawful act.
The Fallacy
Job Loyalty Coercion Fallacy
The employer uses the threat of dismissal to extract unpaid extra hours, framing the demand as a reasonable workplace expectation. This conflates genuine commitment to work with submission to labour law violations. Workers are not legally required to work beyond statutory maximum hours without additional compensation, and threatening dismissal for asserting this right is an unfair labour practice.
What the Law Says
Your Legal Foundation
Employment Code Act No. 3 of 2019
Section 81 — Maximum Working Hours
“An employee shall not be required to work more than forty-eight hours per week, and any hours worked beyond the standard hours shall be overtime.”
Any hours beyond your agreed standard hours (and in any case beyond 48 hours per week) are overtime and must be compensated at a premium rate. You cannot be required to work excessive hours as a condition of employment.
Employment Code Act No. 3 of 2019
Section 82 — Overtime Pay
“An employee who performs overtime work shall be paid at a rate not less than one and a half times the employee's normal hourly rate.”
Every overtime hour must be paid at 1.5 times your normal rate. If your employer is requiring extra hours without this premium, they are stealing the difference between your normal rate and the overtime rate.
Industrial and Labour Relations Act Cap. 269
Section 105 — Unfair Labour Practices
“It is an unfair labour practice for an employer to threaten or victimise an employee for asserting rights under any labour law.”
Threatening to dismiss you for refusing unlawful unpaid overtime is an unfair labour practice. Report this to the Labour Commissioner alongside your overtime pay claim.
What Scripture Says
God's Word on This
Colossians 4:1 (NIV)
“Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven.”
The biblical standard for those in authority is not what they can get away with — it is what is right and fair. Demanding extra hours without extra pay is neither right nor fair. God holds employers accountable for how they treat the people who work for them.
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You Know the Law — But Do You Know What to Say?
Reading your rights is one thing. Using them under pressure — calmly, correctly, in the right words — is what actually protects you. Members get the scripted rebuttal for this exact situation: what to say first, what to say if they push back, the tone to use, and the constitutional provision to cite. Practise out loud with audio until it's automatic.