The public hearings currently underway to investigate the Funeral Undertaking Sector are designed to professionalise the industry and ensure that it complies with trading and labour laws of the country.
Department of Labour’s (DoL) Deputy Director of Employment Standards Directorate, Shaun Feldman said over the past few years there has been a “mushrooming” of fly-by-night Funeral Undertakers that were giving the industry a bad name.
“We have heard about horror stories with fridges breaking down, illegal dumping of wastes and treatment of labour - emerging from the industry. Through the public engagement process underway, we want to ensure appropriate legislation to help control the industry. Currently, the industry is regulated in a piecemeal,” Feldman said.
Feldman was speaking during the Funeral Undertaking Sector public hearings held at the DoL’s Port Elizabeth Labour Centre today, 18 November. The public hearings are designed to elicit comments from the sector, which will help the Employment Conditions Commission (ECC) to finalise its recommendation to Labour Minister on the possibility of establishing a sectoral determination (SD) prescribing minimum wages and conditions of employment for this sector.
The Employment Conditions Commission is a body composed of government representatives, labour unions, and employers that advises Labour Minister on wages and other conditions of employment in the vulnerable sectors.
The first phase of the investigation to introduce SD in the Funeral Undertaking Sector started in Vryburg, North West province on 4 November. To date, hearings have been held in Gauteng and this week hearings will be held in the Eastern Cape and Free State provinces.
Sectoral Determination is a law that has been made by the Department of Labour which regulates employment conditions in the vulnerable sectors of the economy. The purpose of Sectoral Determination is to lay down conditions of employment for workers such as the minimum wage rates, hours of work, leave, termination of employment among others.
Feldman said the public hearings would also help extract inputs on the ideal timeframe for a SD dispensation once approved.
Stakeholders with a vested interest in the funeral undertaking are encouraged to make written representations in this respect and should be addressed to:
The Employment Conditions Commission
Private Bag X117
Pretoria
0001
E-mail: mogodi.masenya@labour.gov.za
Fax: 012 309 4709
