If you have a job, keep it
Employees have many avenues to turn to should there be a dispute, or looming retrenchments
WE ARE in for a tough year as the employment figures have dropped every quarter for the past decade.
It is vital that every person has a job and keeps it. Many employees unfortunately escalate work disputes which aren’t worth major conflict. One of your most valuable assets is your job.
We are blessed with a functional and highly protective Constitution. Over and above this, the Department of Employment and Labour (DoL) have been effective in the CCMA.
The CCMA is now heavily overburdened and the administrative staff, commissioners and management are working beyond the call of duty, but they have some fantastic results where the CCMA has managed to keep peace.
Disputes not resolved at the workplace are to a large degree resolved through conciliation at the CCMA. The CCMA has functionally managed to resolve about 80% of referrals. It receives almost 2 000 referrals daily.
Many employers have internal mechanisms where grievances and disputes can be resolved quickly without having to refer it to any outside body.
Unionised workplaces are maturing so that the relationship between the union and the employer is also able to resolve disputes quickly and efficiently.
Many employers belong to bargaining councils, especially those in manufacturing, and these have very efficient dispute resolution processes.
Every employee in South Africa must have a letter of employment or a contract of employment. It is understood that thousands of employees are in situations where they are not treated properly or fairly. Many employees contact me daily to say they don’t have letters of appointment nor do they receive pay slips.
This is an untenable situation and should be resolved either by approaching the trade union, bargaining council or, if necessary, the Department of Labour. Letters of appointment and pay slips are for the employees’ protection but can also act as a management tool for employers.
Letters of appointment often refer to restraints of trade, conditions of employment, disciplinary codes etc. All these codes and attachments come in very useful for employers if they want to take action against an employee or if they wish to manage the workplace more efficiently.
All employers are governed by the Basic Conditions of Employment Act and the Labour Relations Act. Every employer should at least have a basic working knowledge of both these pieces of legislation to enable them to be compliant with the labour laws.
Unions are expected to have insight into these two pieces of labour legislation and to have a cursory knowledge of the various bargaining council agreements including all the legislation with regard to health and safety.
All employees may approach any of the CCMA’s bargaining councils that will help them complete the referral forms to have disputes resolved.
The CCMA has offices across the country, sometimes within the DoL offices in that town. Most of the larger centres including Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria and Kimberley have dedicated CCMA offices.
This list is not conclusive but one could contact the national office of the CCMA on 011 377 6650 or email address at ho@ccma.org.za. The Cape Town CCMA can be reached at 021 469 0111; email address ctn@ ccma.org.za; at 78 Darling Street, Cape Town (opposite the Castle). The Johannesburg CCMA is at 127 Fox Street with telephone number 011 220 5000 or email johannesburg@ccma.org.za.
All the centres across the country can answer simple questions and give advice. The CCMA does not cost the public anything and is extremely efficient in giving labour legal advice.
At CCMA offices in any of the centres across the country the queues are managed efficiently with attention that is personal and courteous. I have found the opposite with regard to the Unemployment Insurance Fund. Electronic communication with the UIF and the Workmen’s Compensation Fund has been non functional and non responsive.
Happily, parental leave is now effective. An employee is now entitled to 10 days’ parental leave on the birth of the employee’s child. It will also be applicable where the employee legally adopts a child or when a child is placed by a court in the care of that prospective parent. The mother is still entitled to maternity leave when giving birth, which is four months unpaid maternity leave. This maternity leave would be claimed from the UIF.
Minimum wages remain, as has been set out at the inception of the national minimum wage.
We are expecting an announcement of increases to the national minimum wage. However, it should be noted that about 85 000 domestic workers lost their jobs at the inception of the national minimum wage.
We also note that now over 10 million South Africans are unemployed. The government has once again said that job creation is a priority but individuals are encouraged to secure the relevant skills to protect their jobs. In a highly regulated labour environment, small businesses are reluctant to create more jobs. Therefore, it might be useful for individuals to turn to self employment and even volunteering for jobs so as to enable them to gain a foothold in the workplace.
There are various provincial government schemes trying to create employment to enable individuals to enter the workplace to gain skills. Individuals are encouraged to go on to the internet, and look at the various government portals on the Department of Labour website.
As an example, the Western Cape provincial government has opened applications for various schemes worth pursuing.