Hospitality Sector express content with formula that pegs current minimum wage at inflation plus one in the Department of Labour public hearings.
The Hospitality Sector has described the current minimum wage determination formula used in the industry as relatively “fair” under prevailing economic conditions.
Making their representation during the Department of Labour (DoL) public hearings on Hospitality Sector minimum wage review in Durban today (March 19), industry players said the current wages pegged at consumer price index (CPI) plus one percent formula was ‘ideal and fair’.
The Hospitality Sector said although it was still reeling under the strain of economic recession, the current formula to determine the wages allows for forward planning and certainty.
Department of Labour’s Employment Standards: Assistant Director Masenya Mogodi welcomed inputs from the Hospitality Sector saying all views would be considered once the Employment Conditions Commission (ECC) convene to deliberate.
Mogodi said contrary to misleading misconceptions the ECC criteria to review minimum wages was not thumb-suck, “it is enshrined in the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA).”
When reviewing the minimum wages as part of Sectoral Determination (SD) the ECC uses a criteria that looks at: ability of the employer to conduct business successfully; effect on SMME’s; creation and retention of employment; alleviation of poverty; cost of living; condition of living; wage differential and inequality; the likely impact of any proposed condition of employment on current employment or the creation of employment; the possible impact of any proposed conditions of employment on the health, safety or welfare of employees; and any other relevant information made available to the Commission.
For the Hospitality Sector exclusions apply to employers and employees who are: involved in the trade of letting flats, rooms or houses. It also includes employers covered by another SD in terms of BCEA or covered by a collective agreement of a bargaining council or a statutory council in terms of Labour Relations Act.
“The law governing SD is also flexible in that it allows for an employer to pay an employee as per hours worked,” Mogodi said.
In terms of legislative requirements the SD is initiated when Labour Minister instructs the Director General (DG) to investigate. The DG in turn would mandate the ECC to investigate the possibility of a review.
Once this has been undertaken a notice is published in Government Gazette inviting written representation from the public and other stakeholders.
Thereafter, the DoL takes the process forward through a public hearing process and this initiative culminate in the ECC process of promulgation. Although employers have expressed satisfaction on the current wage regime, employees in the industry said they would like the review to set the minimum hourly rate at R20,00 and allow for overtime remuneration.
The Department of Labour this week conducted a series of public hearing roadshows in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape to gather inputs on the review of the Sectoral Determination for both the Taxi and the Hospitality Sectors. The Hospitality Sector SD was introduced in July 2007. Currently, the sector’s review is undertaken every three years.
The hearings this week were targeted at interested parties such as the employers, employees, trade unions, employer organisations and the public.
The public hearings are set to wrap up in April. Once concluded, the Employment Conditions Commission (ECC), a body that advises the Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant on sectoral determinations, will use the inputs collected to recommend the new determination. An announcement on the new determination is expected to be made in June 2013.
Wages in the Hospitality Sector are set in accordance with the number of employees an enterprise employs. According to Masoga this approach was informed by the fact that the majority of employees in the hospitality sector are employed by small firms, those with less than 10 employees.
The current Hospitality Sector wages is implemented as follows:
Employers with 10 or less employees
Minimum rate for the period: 1 July 2012 to 30 June 2013
Monthly: R2 240.60
Weekly: R517.10
Hourly: R11.49
Employers with more than 10 employees:
Minimum rate for the period: 1 July 2012 to 30 June 2013
Monthly: R2 495.80
Weekly: R576.00
Hourly: R12.80
Inputs and submissions on the Hospitality Sector SD can be directed at:
The Director
Employment Standards
Private Bag X117
Pretoria, 0001
Corett Shoba
Tel: 012 309 4885
Fax: 086 624 1416
E-mail: corrett.shoba@labour.gov.za
