Are loadshedding pay cuts fair?

With higher stages of loadshedding being implemented, many businesses have had to undergo retrenchments and cutting pay or close down completely. It’s a tough situation, but the law is the law, and you may be wondering if your employer can actually legally cut your pay if you are unable to work due to loadshedding. Scorpion examines this labour legal issue.

Pay cut laws in South Africa

Your e mploye r cannot simply ‘cut’ your pay. Se ction 34 of the Basic Condit ions of Employme nt Act (BCEA) make s it cle ar t hat no de duct ions can be made by t he e mploye r wit hout t he e mploye e ’s agre e me nt in writ ing (unle ss t he de duct ions are re quire d or pe rmit t e d in t e rms of a law, colle ct ive agre e me nt , court orde r or arbit rat ion award).

Should I take a pay cut?

Each individual’s situation is diffe re nt, so the re is no right or wrong answe r he re , but we can e x plain t he pot e nt ial conse que nce s of t he de cision.

If you re fuse a pay cut , t he e mploye r could de cide t o imple me nt short t ime . This is not allowe d t o be use d as a ‘punishme nt ’ t act ic t o ge t back at t he e mploye e for re fusing t he pay cut , and must be applie d fairly – t he e mploye r must imple me nt the short time e qually across t he e nt ire company or de part me nt t hat is affe ct e d. The pe riod of short t ime must also be fairly dist ribut e d across all affe ct e d e mploye e s. Eve n so, e mploye e s must st ill be give n not ice of t he short t ime .

It ’s also import ant t o che ck your e mployme nt cont ract , since many will cont ain clause s t hat cove r the e mploye r to allow short time t o be use d, or t he re is a colle ct ive agre e me nt in place for your indust ry t hat allows short t ime .

If you re fuse t he short t ime , t he e mploye r may have no opt ion but to institute re tre nchme nt proce e dings. Again, t he se must be procedurally and substantially fair, me aning t he corre ct proce dure s must be followe d and t he re asons must be fair.

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