Defining "Continuous Operations” In Mining: Legal Lessons From The Uis Tin Mine Declaration

Mining operations are rarely confined to conventional working hours. Processing plants, mining fleets, laboratories, engineering functions and other critical services may need to operate continuously to maximize production and efficiently utilise capital-intensive infrastructure.

Listen to this article

At a glance

• • Uis Tin Mining Company (Pty) Ltd (Uis Tin Mine) was recently granted continuous-operation status.
  • A mine that intends to operate continuously must ensure that its production model is supported by the necessary section 15 declaration and that the resulting workforce arrangements remain compliant with the broader Labour Act 11 of 2007 framework.
• The Uis Tin Mine declaration provides an important reminder that continuous production requires continuous compliance.

Namibian labour law, however, does not permit an employer to simply introduce continuous shifts because operational circumstances require it.

Section 15 of the Labour Act 11 of 2007 (Labour Act) empowers the Minister responsible for labour matters (Minister), by notice in the Government Gazette, to declare an operation a continuous operation and permit continuous shifts in respect of that operation. Importantly, no continuous shift permitted under section 15 may exceed eight hours.

The recent declaration concerning Uis Tin Mining Company (Pty) Ltd (Uis Tin Mine) provides a useful reminder of both the value and limitations of continuous-operation status for Namibia’s mining industry.

Government Notice 183 of 2026, published on 15 June 2026, declared the operations of Uis Tin Mining Company at the Uis Tin Mine site in the Erongo Region to be continuous operations and permitted continuous shifts from 12 May 2026 until 11 May 2029.

For mine operators, the declaration is more than an administrative approval. Its practical implications extend to shift design, overtime, night work, Sunday and public-holiday work, payroll structuring, occupational health and safety, and collective bargaining.

What does section 15 declaration actually permit?

Section 15 allows the Minister to declare an operation continuous and to permit continuous shifts, subject to any conditions contained in the relevant notice.

Once an operation falls within such a declaration, section 16 links employees’ ordinary working hours in that continuous operation to the maximum shift hours permitted by the Minister. However, section 15 expressly imposes an important limitation: a continuous shift may not exceed eight hours.

Continuous-operation status should therefore not be understood as a general exemption from the Labour Act. Rather, it provides a statutory basis for organising an operation around continuous shifts while the act’s other protections continue to apply.

This distinction is particularly important where mining operations favour longer roster arrangements.

In Namzinc (Pty) Ltd v Mine Workers Union of Namibia and Another (109 of 2015) [2015] NALCMD 17, the Labour Court considered an attempt to require employees to work shifts exceeding eight hours. The court emphasised the statutory limitation in section 15 and held that an order requiring employees to work beyond that limit would be contrary to the Labour Act.

Accordingly, operators should distinguish carefully between the permitted continuous shift and any additional hours that may separately constitute overtime.

Continuous operations do not eliminate overtime

A section 15 declaration does not displace section 17 of the Labour Act.

Overtime may generally only be worked pursuant to an agreement and is limited to 10 hours per week and three hours per day, unless an increased limit has been authorised in accordance with the Labour Act. Overtime must ordinarily be remunerated at not less than one and a half times the employee’s hourly basic wage.

This has an important practical consequence for operators.

A mine cannot assume that continuous-operation status converts all hours worked into ordinary hours or removes overtime costs. Shift arrangements and payroll systems must continue to distinguish between ordinary continuous shift hours and qualifying overtime.

For investors and lenders, the same issue should be considered when assessing operating cost assumptions. A project model premised on 24/7 production should take account not only of headcount, but also of the statutory cost implications of the proposed roster.

Night work, Sundays and public holidays

Continuous operations frequently involve night shifts and work over weekends and public holidays.

Section 19 entitles employees to an additional 6% of their hourly basic wage for each hour worked between 20h00 and 07h00, excluding overtime. This statutory night-work payment should be distinguished from any additional contractual or collectively negotiated shift allowance.

Sections 21 and 22 also specifically recognise work involving continuous shifts as an exception to the general restrictions on Sunday and public holiday work. This allows a properly declared continuous operation to maintain production across those periods.

It does not, however, remove the corresponding remuneration obligations. Employees working Sundays or public holidays remain entitled to the applicable additional remuneration prescribed by the Labour Act.

Accordingly, an operator designing a continuous-shift system should separately account for:

• ordinary continuous-shift hours;
• overtime;
• statutory night-work payments;
• Sunday remuneration;
• public-holiday remuneration; and
• any contractual or collectively negotiated shift allowance.

Conflating these categories may result in payroll errors and potential retrospective liability.

Shift design must also address fatigue and rest

Continuous operations are not purely a remuneration issue.

Section 20 of the Labour Act generally limits an employee’s daily spread-over to 12 hours and requires a weekly interval of at least 36 consecutive hours of rest.

Although the ordinary meal interval provisions in section 18 do not apply to employees working continuous shifts, mine operators should still consider fatigue management as part of their broader health and safety obligations.

In an operational environment involving heavy machinery, processing equipment and other mining hazards, roster design is therefore both an employment law and operational risk issue.

From declaration to implementation

Obtaining continuous-operation status is only the first step.

Once the declaration is in place, operators must translate it into a compliant workforce model. This requires reviewing the proposed roster against the Labour Act, employment contracts, workplace policies and any applicable collective agreements.

As a practical matter, mine operators should consider whether:

• the relevant operations and employees fall within the scope of the ministerial declaration;
• continuous shifts remain within the eight-hour statutory ceiling;
• overtime is properly authorised, recorded and remunerated;
• night-work, Sunday and public-holiday payments are correctly calculated;
• adequate weekly rest and fatigue-management measures are incorporated into the roster; and
• contractual and collective bargaining obligations have been addressed before existing working arrangements are changed.

The last point is particularly important where a unionised workforce is involved.

Section 70 of the Labour Act gives collective agreements binding legal effect and provides that employment terms contained in an applicable collective agreement are incorporated into affected contracts of employment. Section 50, in turn, identifies the unilateral alteration of a term or condition of employment as an unfair labour practice.

Accordingly, a ministerial declaration does not necessarily entitle an employer to unilaterally replace an existing agreed roster or alter negotiated allowances. Where continuous operations require changes to existing terms, early engagement with employees and recognised trade unions can be critical.

Applying the Uis lesson

The Uis declaration illustrates the importance of aligning operational planning with the statutory framework before implementing continuous work.

It is worth noting that the Government Gazette records the declaration itself but does not disclose the underlying application or evidence submitted by Uis Tin Mine. It would therefore be inappropriate to infer from the notice precisely how Uis secured ministerial approval.

Section 15 itself similarly does not prescribe a detailed application checklist in the statutory text.

A mine contemplating continuous-operation status should nevertheless be prepared to clearly identify the operations concerned, motivate why continuous work is operationally required, explain the proposed shift model and demonstrate how the remaining requirements of the Labour Act will be observed.

For operators, maintaining regulatory continuity is therefore as important as obtaining the initial declaration.

Key takeaway

The commercial rationale for continuous mining operations is readily apparent: better utilisation of processing infrastructure, improved production continuity and more efficient deployment of capital-intensive assets.

The legal position is equally clear. A mine that intends to operate continuously must ensure that its production model is supported by the necessary section 15 declaration and that the resulting workforce arrangements remain compliant with the broader Labour Act framework.

The Uis Tin Mine declaration therefore provides an important reminder that continuous production requires continuous compliance.

FAQs

What does section 15 declaration actually permit?

Section 15 allows the Minister to declare an operation continuous and to permit continuous shifts, subject to any conditions contained in the relevant notice.

Once an operation falls within such a declaration, section 16 links employees’ ordinary working hours in that continuous operation to the maximum shift hours permitted by the Minister. However, section 15 expressly imposes an important limitation: a continuous shift may not exceed eight hours.

Continuous-operation status should therefore not be understood as a general exemption from the Labour Act. Rather, it provides a statutory basis for organising an operation around continuous shifts while the Act’s other protections continue to apply.

This distinction is particularly important where mining operations favour longer roster arrangements.

In Namzinc (Pty) Ltd v Mine Workers Union of Namibia and Another (109 of 2015) [2015] NALCMD 17, the Labour Court considered an attempt to require employees to work shifts exceeding eight hours. The court emphasised the statutory limitation in section 15 and held that an order requiring employees to work beyond that limit would be contrary to the Labour Act.

Accordingly, operators should distinguish carefully between the permitted continuous shift and any additional hours that may separately constitute overtime.

What does a “continuous operation” declaration mean under the Namibian Labour Act?

It means that the Minister has declared an operation to be continuous under section 15 of the Labour Act and permitted continuous shifts in respect of that operation. It does not amount to a blanket exemption from the Act, and no continuous shift may exceed eight hours.

How can a mining company apply for continuous-operation status?

Section 15 does not prescribe a detailed statutory application checklist. An operator seeking continuous-operation status should therefore prepare a properly motivated submission identifying the operations concerned, explaining the operational requirement for continuous work and setting out the proposed shift arrangements and relevant compliance measures.

The legally operative step is the Minister’s declaration by notice in the Government Gazette.

Does continuous-operation status eliminate overtime pay?

No. Section 17 continues to apply. Continuous-operation status permits continuous shifts; it does not convert overtime into ordinary hours or remove statutory obligations relating to overtime remuneration, night work, Sundays or public holidays.