Hospitality industry employers are warned to comply with the law and pay their workers as stipulated in the sectoral determination for this sector, or face the might of the law.
Free State Labour Inspectors last week uncovered that some employers with more than ten workers are cheating their employees by underpaying their wages meant for those with less than ten workers in their employ. Some employers were not paying their workers overtime for work done after daily working hours.
“We are calculating all the underpayments of the wages and overtime that these employers should have paid their workers and we will ensure that the workers receive all the monies due to them. We will also make sure that all the employers who have not registered their workers with Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) do so even it if it means we have to take bold steps to ensure compliance,” said Free State Provincial Operations’ Chief Director, Marsha Bronkhorst.
According to the Hospitality Sectoral Determination, employers whose establishments have more than ten workers are expected to pay a minimum wage of R2 209 per month or an hourly rate of R11,33 cents, while workers, who are ten or less in the employment, must take home a minimum wage of R1981,48 cents per month or R10,17 cents per hour.
According to the sectoral determination, which came into effect on 1 July 2007, workers paid on a commission (not tips) basis should at least earn the minimum wage over and above gratuities (tips) which should not form part of the minimum wage.
The latest week-long blitz laid bare the level of non-compliance by employers.
Figures released by the Labour department this week show that of the 329 hospitality workplaces inspected in the province during the national scrutiny, only 250 employers were found to be complying–resulting in 67 employers beingissued with undertakings and an improvement notice, while 16 employers were also charged with serious contraventions of the Occupational Health and Safety measures.
Enquiries:
Wisane Mavasa
Cell: 082 806 1351
