Big businesses urged to stagger work shifts
As South Africa moves from a prohibitive nationwide lockdown to a more collaborative Level 3, employers have been asked to introduce rotational and staggered working schedules in order to maintain physical distancing and to limit congestion in public transport.
This is contained in the Level 3 regulations gazetted by the government this week.
The regulations come after extensive consultation with stakeholders in individual sectors and labour to prepare for an additional eight million people returning to work on Monday, when the majority of industries will be allowed to return to productivity except a few that have been declared “high-risk”.
Firms in the construction, manufacturing, business and financial services sectors with more than 500 employees should finalise sector-appropriate workplace arrangements detailing how they will provide or arrange transport for employees coming to work.
Where transport arrangements cannot be made by the business, the firms have also been asked to stagger working time arrangements to reduce congestion in public transport during peak time as people return to work.
Where possible, businesses with more than 100 employees have also been urged to consider staggered working hours, shift work and remote working.
In sectors with representative bodies, the regulations state that where there are high health risks, the bodies should develop health protocols that are specific to the sector and detail what businesses need to do if they are unable to implement staggered working hours or provide transport to employees.
In a briefing on Thursday, Minister of Trade and Industry Ebrahim Patel said the aim of the regulations was to ensure there was no pressure on the public transport system during rush hour where people will be crammed together.
Patel said the draft framework agreements include health and safety measures such as screening employees daily for Covid-19 symptoms and requiring that companies submit the data collected to the director-general of health.
“The agreements are comprehensive and create a framework for ensuring a safer workplace environment,” said Patel.
“But even when we have these measures in place, it will still take extraordinary focus and monitoring that we [must] adhere to,” he added.
Private and public entities will have to appoint a Covid-19 compliance officer who will be responsible for overseeing the implementation of the organisation’s return-to-work plan.
The plan should stipulate which employees will be allowed to return to work, how the business aims to phase-in their return, and the health protocols that are in place. The compliance officer will also oversee adherence to health protocols.
Household domestic workers can also return to work in Level 3 “subject to the health protocols being followed”, said Patel.
“There are particular challenges within a domestic environment [and] we will be looking to see if the existing directions need to be elaborated [upon] or extended to provide for circumstances like these,” he said.
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