Tag: <span>legislation</span>

Sexual Harrassment News

Draft Code of Good Practice on the Prevention and…

The Minister of Employment and Labour (Thembelani Waltermade Nxesi) published the Draft Code of Good Practice on the Prevention and Elimination of Violence and Harassment in the World of Work for public comment from the date of publication.  Written comments on this draft should be submitted within 60 days of the publication of the notice in the Gazette. 

Read more “Draft Code of Good Practice on the Prevention and Elimination of Violence and Harassment In the World of Work”
Retail-Store News

Minimum Wages for the Wholesale and Retail Sector –…

From the 1st of February 2018, the minimum wages for the Wholesale and Retail sector will be increased. This annual increase is valid for twelve (12) months until the 28th of February 2019 in stark contrast to the increases tabled for the Domestic Workers and Contract Cleaning Sectors earlier this year. It stands to be seen how this extended period of validity will play into the proposed Minimum Wage Bill (Read Our Article Here).

This Sectoral Determination covers employees who work in merchandising and/or distribution operations, however certain geographic areas and businesses are covered by bargaining council agreements so it is important to familiarize yourself with these in your area. Read more “Minimum Wages for the Wholesale and Retail Sector – 2018”

Forestry-Worker News

Minimum Wages for the Farm Workers and Forestry Sectors

From the 1st of March 2018, the minimum wages for Farm Workers and people employed in the Forestry Sector will be increased, this annual increase is valid for twelve (12) months until the 28th of February 2019 in stark contrast to the increases tabled for the Domestic Workers and Contract Cleaning Sectors earlier this year. It stands to be seen how this extended period of validity will play into the proposed Minimum Wage Bill (Read Our Article Here).

Hourly Rate from 1st of March 2018: R 16.25

Read more “Minimum Wages for the Farm Workers and Forestry Sectors”

Minimum-Wage News

National Minimum Wage Legislation gets a nod from Cabinet

Cabinet has approved the draft legislation to implement a National Minimum Wage for South Africa. At present the new proposed National Minimum Wage is set at R 20.00 per hour, which translates to approximately R 3 900.00 per month. For a comparison, the current Minimum Wage for a Domestic Worker is around R 12.42 per hour or R 2 421.90 per month.

While it is unclear what the exemptions would be, working on the assumption that all Sectoral Minimum Wages will have to be increased, this legislation holds the potential to increase unemployment even more. Currently South Africa has an unemployment rate of 27.7% for the third quarter of 2017 and in what is likely to be a repeat of the Farm Workers Minimum Wage which saw a 0.8% increase in unemployment when it was implemented in 2013 over a period which historically shows a decrease in unemployment. Read more “National Minimum Wage Legislation gets a nod from Cabinet”

WhoIsEmployee Article

When is an Independent Contractor actually an Employee?

Given the tough economic climate and the relatively high cost of employment, workforce flexibility becomes one of the most important considerations for any business. This is actively hampered by restrictive legislation which regulates Fixed-term and Temporary Employment and effectively makes it impossible for an employer to structure its’ business to make use of this form of employment.

An emerging trend has been the use of independent contractors, however this is not as simple as it seems. Section 200A of the Labour Relations Act (Act 66 of 1995), Assumption as to who is an Employee, sought to answer this question to a certain extent, and when read along with the Code of Good Practice, seems to favor a combination of tests, including the Read more “When is an Independent Contractor actually an Employee?”