Labour amendments give more power to inspectors-roadshow told
The key amendments in the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) will include the extension of provision for monitoring and enforcement by the labour inspectors which will apply to the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and Unemployment Insurance Act(UIA), a briefing session on NMW was told in Klerksdorp on Thursday.
Stephen Rathai, Director: Employment Standards was addressing scores of stakeholders, mainly from labour, about the soon to be implemented NMW. He said “The amendments will also deal with the extension of jurisdiction of the CCMA and claims for contract of Collective agreement”.
Rathai said the key amendments in the BCEA include:
- Referral of disputes to the CCMA about noncompliance of BCEA, NMW, UIA, and Unemployment Insurance Contribution Act (UICA)
- Amendments to permit labour inspectors to obtain an undertaking to comply with the NMW and to apply to CCMA to have undertaking and compliance order made an arbitration award
- Extending the power of inspectors to issue a compliance order for NMW, UIA, UICA breaches and allowing employers who dispute the compliance order to refer the matter to the CCMA for arbitration
The worker engagement/briefing sessions started on 9 November 2017. The briefing sessions are targeting all sectors of the economy. Since the start of the roadshows - NMW and labour amendment briefing sessions have been held in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, George, Pietermaritzburg, Richards Bay, Durban, Tzaneen, and Polokwane.
The National minimum wage is scheduled for implementation from 1 May 2018. The agreed national minimum wage at NEDLAC is pegged at R20 an hour for major sectors, with the exception of sectors such as farm workers, and domestic workers.
More worker NMW and labour amendments briefing sessions are still to be held in Rustenburg (26 January), Bloemfontein (01 February), Welkom (02 February), Umtata (07 February), East London (08 February), Port Elizabeth (09 February), Upington (15 February), and culminating in Kimberley on (16 February).
Enquiries:
Teboho Thejane
Cell: 082 697 0694
