employment conditions

[sterne.law@gmail.com]

The lunch hour is not included, unless it exceeds an hour. Overtime has a number of side issues and can be altered, by agreement and subject to the Basic Conditions. An employee can/may work upto 10 hours overtime per week, paid for.
Different sectors have different minimum wages. Public holidays - if they work on the day they get paid for that day plus 1 days wage in lieu of the day missed, hence the term double pay. www.labourprotect.co.za and www.labourguide.co.za are good websites as is the labour department site. I myself am a labour consultant and you can get me on sterne.law@gmail.com

[dellatjie]

So if you work 7 days a week, overtime will only be paid if you work more than 56 hours (8 x 7)?

[CLIVE-TRIANGLE]

The Basic Conditions Of Employment Act is basically the "bottom line". No agreement, whether collective or individual, can afford an employee less rights or less favourable conditions of employment.

Read the Act. It is written in plain English, is not too long and frankly a numbskull can follow it.

The various bargaining councils' collective agreements deviate, in some cases substantially, from the Act. But always the employee is favoured. Reading the conditions of employment contained in their collective agreements, exclusive of the Act and the LRA, is just folly.

[Garf]

Most of what you need to read is here - https://www.labour.gov.za/ - but don't fall out with the Tax Man (SARS, Revenue Services not the Virus) that can be very, very expensive, all your employees need a tax number and you must submit a return twice a year even if there is no tax payable.

[Franb]

I have an HR consulting Company. You will be surprised how many "larger" businesses do not have the basics in place and this causes endless headaches. So well done for wanting to do it properly now. I will be happy to forward standard letter of appointments and information to get you strated. Email me a list of what you need. I am new to this site and hope that I can leave my email address for you. frances.badenhorst @gmail.com

[Blurock]

I have an HR consulting Company. You will be surprised how many "larger" businesses do not have the basics in place and this causes endless headaches.

It is sad that there are still people out there trying to screw their workers. Yes, it is not only SMME's that do not have the infrastructure, but big corporates too. The CEO's of these big companies often state that their staff is their biggest asset, so why then treat them as if they are dispensable?

In marketing we know that good service is not what we think it is, but how the customer experience or perceive it. The same applies to staff. Put yourself in their position and see if you would be happy with working conditions etc. (see under cover boss on Discovery channels)

I believe a lot of HR and IR problems can be pre-empted by having more compassion and the right attitude to staff. Experienced staff are more productive and can save you a lot of money in training cost, problem solving and finding new, innovative ways to do things.

I am not advocating for higher salaries or staff benefits. I am just asking for employers to be fair and to do the right thing. Do not for instance deduct UIF, pension and tax and not pay it over. Do not cheat your employees or discriminate between different departments or business units. Be fair, be a true leader.