ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses labour legislation and its impact on the development of the country’s industrial relations system. The Constitution that paved the way for Independence in September 1966 guaranteed and protected the fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual. These rights and freedoms include the right to personal liberty, protection from deprivation of property, freedom of conscience and expression, and freedom of assembly and association. The Employment Act is the basic labour law of Botswana and provides the so called floor of rights, that is, the statutory employment rights for individuals at work. The act replaced the Regulation of Wages and Conditions of Employment Act. According to Section 127 of the Constitution, a public office means "an office of emoluments in the public service" and the public service means "the civil service of the government", and a "public officer" means "a person holding or acting in any public office".
