Collective Bargaining Agreement Food and Allied Industries (Brewing and Distilling Sub-sector)
Brewing and distilling workers get a 90,4% minimum wage rise for April to June 2022 — from ZWL43 000 to ZWL81 857,82 — with housing at ZWL17 350,36 and transport at ZWL18 000, published nearly two years late.
This agreement amends the 2012 collective bargaining agreement for the brewing and distilling sub-sector of the Food and Allied Industries (S.I. 26 of 2012). It ratifies an arbitral award dated 14 September 2022 that the Brewing and Distilling Employers Association and the Brewing and Distilling Workers Union agreed to adopt at a meeting on 22 September 2022.
The award covers the quarter April to June 2022. The minimum wage rises by 90,3670233% from ZWL43 000,00 to ZWL81 857,82. The housing allowance rises from ZWL9 000,00 to ZWL17 350,36 and the transport allowance to ZWL18 000,00. The subsistence allowance rises from ZWL11 000,00 for June 2022.
A 5% grade differential applies on the basic wage, producing nine grades. Grade 1 moves from a total of ZWL60 750,00 to ZWL117 208,18 a month; grade 5 from ZWL70 016,77 to ZWL134 849,49; grade 9 from ZWL81 280,58 to ZWL156 290,53. The transport and housing allowances are flat across all nine grades.
Two practical rules follow. Increases on actual pay — as opposed to the minimum — are left to individual companies to deal with. And where a company provides physical housing, the housing allowance does not apply.
A note on the published figures. The narrative says the transport allowance rose from ZWL1 710,00, while the table shows the January to March 2022 transport figure as ZWL8 750,00, and the subsistence allowance is printed as "ZWL$16 83333,00", which is plainly a typesetting error. The wage table itself is internally consistent and is the more reliable part of the text; the two narrative figures should be checked against the gazetted instrument before being relied on.
The wider point for readers is the delay. This instrument was gazetted on 15 March 2024 for an award covering the second quarter of 2022, in a period of rapid ZWL depreciation, so the amounts have limited present purchasing-power meaning and matter mainly for arrears calculations and for disputes about that period.
What changed
- Minimum wage increased by 90,3670233% from ZWL43 000,00 to ZWL81 857,82 for April to June 2022
- Housing allowance increased from ZWL9 000,00 to ZWL17 350,36
- Transport allowance set at ZWL18 000,00
- Subsistence allowance increased from ZWL11 000,00 for June 2022
- A 5% grade differential applied on the basic wage across nine grades
- Increases on actual pay left to individual companies
- Housing allowance does not apply where the company provides physical housing
Who this affects
- brewery and distillery workers in grades 1 to 9
- members of the Brewing and Distilling Employers Association
- the Brewing and Distilling Workers Union
- payroll officers calculating 2022 arrears in the brewing sector
- workers housed in company accommodation, who lose the housing allowance
Plain-language summary — not legal advice. Always read the full instrument.