Resume rules in Zambia
What employers in Zambia expect on a Curriculum Vitae (CV) / Resume, what the law lets them ask for, and where the two disagree.
Call it a CV for Zambia or a resume for Zambia: it's the same document. Employers there usually want it written in English.
This is research, not legal advice. Employment and data protection law changes, state and provincial rules matter in federal countries, and practice varies by industry and seniority. Each entry shows when it was looked up and how confident we are. Where nothing reliable was published it says Not found rather than a guess.
Law and practice, side by side
The label on the right is what local hiring expects. The two lines under it are the law and the habit, which often disagree.
Photo: Uncommon
Uncommon; not standard practice unless explicitly requested; may introduce bias
What the law says: No legal requirement; employment discrimination on appearance prohibited under Employment Code Act 2019
Date of birth: Not found
Included as part of personal details; avoid irrelevant personal information
What the law says: No legal requirement; age discrimination prohibited under Employment Code Act 2019
Marital status: Avoid
Avoid including unless relevant; not recommended
What the law says: No legal requirement; marital status discrimination prohibited
Sex or gender: Not found
Not typically stated; optional
What the law says: No requirement to state; gender discrimination prohibited
Nationality: Not found
Not mentioned in guidance
What the law says: No legal requirement
National ID number: Uncommon
Uncommon; not recommended
What the law says: No legal requirement on CV
The rest of the entry
- Local name of the document
- Curriculum Vitae (CV) / Resume
- Language to submit in
- English
- Typical length
- 2 pages typical; 1 page for early career, 3 pages for senior professionals
- Address detail expected
- Not specified; contact details expected
- Signature and date
- Not mentioned in available guidance
- Officially prescribed form
- None; follow resume-style format
- Religion, ethnicity or caste
- No legal requirement; prohibited grounds for discrimination
- Health, disability or pregnancy
- No legal requirement; disability discrimination prohibited
- Other customary attachments
- References typically expected
- Employer may not ask for
- Race, tribe, place of origin, language, religion, belief, conscience, political opinion, sex, gender, pregnancy, marital status, ethnicity, family responsibility, disability, health status, culture, economic grounds
- Named statutes
- Employment Code Act No. 3 of 2019; Data Protection Act No. 3 of 2021
- Data protection regime
- Data Protection Act No. 3 of 2021; enforced by Data Protection Commissioner
- Anti-discrimination statutes
- Employment Code Act 2021 - comprehensive prohibition on discrimination
- Local language source
- English
Where this came from
Looked up 2026-08-15. Independently checked 2026-08-15. High confidence. Result of that check: Corrected.
Notes: Zambian guidance explicitly advises against photos and irrelevant personal details to minimize bias. Recent Employment Code Act 2021 provides comprehensive anti-discrimination protections including protected status for marital status, pregnancy, and disability.
Researched with AI assistants working from a written checklist, then independently checked. How we researched this