Post-Lockdown Retrenchments: Does This Make Provision For Disabled Workers?
When a company is looking at possible retrenchments, the retrenchment must be substantively and procedurally fair. Substantive fairness refers to the reason for retrenchment and procedural fairness to the procedure to be followed i.e. consultation. The most common reason for retrenchments usually stems from either closure of business, loss of a contract or decrease in sales. The employer must show that retrenchment is the only/last option. Part of procedural fairness when the decision has been...
Did You Know? – The New Gazetted COVID-19 Direction On Health And Safety In Certain Workplaces, published 1 October 2020 replaces the Direction on Health And Safety in Workplaces issued on 4 June 2020
Some of the changes include that an employer who employs 50 staff members or more must submit a risk assessment policy, together with a written policy concerning the protection of health and safety of its employees from COVID-19. Previously this was only applicable to employees who employed 500 employees or more. To download the new OHS October Directives Guide SEESA Clients can log in to ProFile and navigate to the COVID-19 tab on the dashboard. To find out how SEESA can help your business,...
Bargaining Councils
What is a Bargaining Council? A Bargaining Council can be established by either one or more Employers Organisations or Workers Unions. They must be registered under the Labour Relations Act for a specific sector or industry. A list of registered Bargaining Councils can be found on the CCMA or Department of Labour website/s for ease of reference. As mentioned these Bargaining Councils are not only limited or restricted to a specific industry, but also by the type of matters as well as disputes...
Episode 49: The Importance And Benefits Of Implementing Training In An Organisation
Skills Development Facilitators, Serisha Moodley and Janet Burger Combrinck discuss the importance of implementing training in an organisation and the benefits thereof to employees and the organisation as a whole. They introduce ProFile, an online employee management system where members can access the SEESA courses available. They also advise on the new COVID-19 related training made available through SEESA Skills Training. Click play to listen to our podcast! Contact your SEESA Skills...
Can The Usage Of A vehicle be deducted from the refund?
It would be a common cause to deduct usage of a vehicle from the refund, but what happens when you are confronted with two sections that elaborate two different approaches? In Section 20(6) of the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008, it is clear that as per (6) (b) (i) the supplier may charge the consumer a reasonable amount for use of the goods during the time they were in the consumer’s possession. In the alternative, Section 56 refers to a “no-fault clause” whereby the consumer may cancel...
Did You Know? – Retrenchment Packages Can Be Paid In Instalments Rather Than A Once-off Payment
During the finalization of a retrenchment process, the employer can reach an agreement with the affected employee(s) to rather pay the retrenchment package(s) in instalments than paying it as a once-off. This will result in a financial relieve for both the employer and the employee(s) since it will not be a heavy financial burden on the employer by paying the packages(s) as a once-off and the employee(s) will still receive an income for a couple of months, depending on the terms of the...
Did You Know? – Businesses With More Than 100 Employees Working In The Same Floor Space Must Make Provision For Minimising The Number Of Employees At The Workplace.
Businesses with more than 100 employees, working together in a group in the same floor space, must where possible, make provision for minimising the number of employees at the workplace at any given time, through rotation, staggered working hours, shift systems, remote working arrangements or similar measures, in order to achieve social distancing and to limit congestion in public transport and at the workplace. The relevant health protocols and social distancing measures for persons employed...
Making BEE Easy For The Agricultural Sector
The first question I ask when starting a consultation is ‘’Why do you need a BEE certificate?” This is a very important question, one that no one can answer for you. You need to determine why it is important for your business to be BEE compliant. Once you know why you want to be BEE compliant, you will be able to help us help you. By knowing why you need a BEE certificate, we can determine what level is best suited for you. It is not always necessary to aim for a level 1 or 2. Sometimes having...
Episode 48: A Practical Approach To Comply With The POPIA
The Protection of Personal Information Act promotes the protection of personal information by requiring that public and private bodies comply with certain standards when collecting, processing, storing and sharing personal information. Organisations must actively demonstrate compliance with the POPI Act by implementing appropriate and reasonable measures. In this podcast, SEESA CP & POPI Legal Advisors, Damian Bothma and Melinda van der Merwe discuss how a business can take...
Short Time: An Alternative To Avoid Retrenchment Due To The Impact Of COVID-19.
Due to the impact of COVID-19, many employers found themselves in financial distress and as such, had no alternative but to implement retrenchments to reduce personnel for the business to survive. If the circumstances are of such a nature that the business will most probably improve systematically as the levels of the national lockdown decreases and there is currently still workload to attend to, then the employer can rather implement a system of reduced working hours namely short time to...