An innovation pilot project in the domestic sector nears.

By Lloyd Ramutloa —30 June 2017

The Department of Labour’s Innovation Pilot Project will kick-start on the 3rd of July 2017. This is a pilot project aimed at unearthing innovative inspection methods in the Domestic Sector.
The move to embark on this project in this sector was necessitated by the fact that domestic employers are often employees themselves, and therefore unable to reach for inspections during normal working hours. This therefore meant that labour inspectors had to find other means to adequately attend to all inspections in the sector.
In addition to that, domestic workers are regarded as vulnerable workers and the sector within which they operate is therefore one of the priority areas where innovation has long been earmarked.
This pilot project is a culmination of deliberations which took place during the Innovation Workshop which was aimed at devising ways and means to respond to changes in the labour market.
These inspections will then be conducted from the 3rd – 6th of July 2017 in Bloemfontein, Welkom, Harrismith and Petrusburg respectively.
Two inspection methodologies aimed at enhancing the quality and efficiency of the inspection process will be adopted for this project;

Desktop Inspection – an inspection that will be conducted by an inspector while stationed at the Labour Centre. The inspection could be finalized without physically visiting the employer provided that all the information requested from the employer is received and the employer complies. Interview with both the employer and the employee will be conducted telephonically.
Afterhours Inspection – an inspection that will be conducted after normal working hours. This inspection requires a physical visit to the employer’s household. Information is requested during the inspection with the exception of Unemployment Insurance as it will be required prior the visit. Interview with the employee is conducted in person if the domestic employee resides with the employer and telephonically if he/she commutes daily.
These inspections will be conducted to check compliance with the following labour laws;
Sectoral Determination (SD) for the Domestic Sector (SD 7);
Unemployment Insurance Act (UIA); and
Unemployment Insurance Contributions Act (UICA).
At the end of this Innovation Pilot Project a comparison will be done between the two inspection approaches to identify the most efficient and effective approach to be adopted for future inspections in the Domestic Sector.

Issued by: Josial Ramokoena
Provincial Spokesperson
Department of Labour: Free State

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Employment Equity Roadshows 11 July- 08 September 2017

The Department of Labour will be hosting its annual workshops/road shows to promote the implementation and compliance with the Employment Equity
by Lloyd Ramutloa —21 June 2017

The Department of Labour will be hosting its annual workshops/roadshows to promote the implementation and compliance with the Employment Equity Act

The Department of Labour hosts workshops/roadshows in all provinces annually to share key information and at the same time, provide a platform to stakeholders to engage on matters relating to employment equity from 11 July to 08 September 2017.

Held under the theme: “Real transformation makes business sense” – the roadshows in addition to creating awareness on compliance with the Employment Equity Act, will share the most current information and help prepare employers to submit fully and accurately EE reports online to the Department for the 2017 reporting period. This year’s workshops focus on the following:

• publicise the Amended Code of Good Practice on the Preparation and Implementation of the EE plans,

• encourage employers to submit EE reports online,

• publicise the 17th CEE Annual Report and the 2016 EE Public Register, and

• present current CCMA cases on Employment Equity Act.

During the recent launch of the 17th CEE Annual Report, Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant announced that government was considering amending Sections of the EE Act in order to promulgate Section 53 and to strengthen the compliance provisions of the Act.

The 17th Commission For Employment Equity Report showed that the representation of the White group at Top Management Level was 68.9 percent which is more than six times their Economic Active Population (EAP). The situation was also the case with the Indian group at 8,6 percent as they have a representation of three times more than their EAP. The opposite is true for the African group at 14,3 and Coloured group at 4,7 percent – as they are under-represented in relation to their EAP.

This skewed demographic picture is also the same at Senior Management, at Skilled Technical, and Professional level.

Oliphant called on workers to be vigilant, by ensuring that they truly scrutinize the equity plans and reports, before being submitted to the department.

Due to the high demand for the workshops, the department will host a few additional workshops in some of the key metropolitan areas this year. This year’s workshops will be held as follows:

• Northern Cape, Kimberley (11 July);

• North West, Rustenburg (13 July);

• Mpumalanga, Witbank (17 July);

• Limpopo, Thohoyandou (18 July) and Polokwane (19 July);

• Free State, Bloemfontein (24 July);

• KwaZulu-Natal, Richards Bay (01 August) and Durban (02 August);

• Eastern Cape, East London (15 August) and Port Elizabeth (16 August);

• Western Cape, George (22 August) and Cape Town (24 August); and

• Gauteng, Pretoria (05 September), Ekurhuleni (06 September), Vaal (07 September) and Ekurhuleni (08 September).

For the third year in the running, the Department of Labour will also share the stage with the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) in order to share information on dispute resolution and case law.

The target audience for the workshops during the roadshows includes: human resources executives and practitioners; EE Forum members; assigned senior EE managers/transformation managers; academics and trade unions among others.

The EE national workshops will be held from 08:30-14:00 at venues to be confirmed for each province.

Please note that the season for reporting, i.e. for manual and online reporting, opens on 1 September 2017.

For more information contact:

Teboho Thejane

Department of Labour Spokesperson

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Hospitality sector minimum wage for 2017/2018

by Lloyd Ramutloa — 3 July 2017

The minimum wage for South Africa’s vulnerable sector of hospitality has been revised upward with effect from 01 July 2017.

The new Hospitality Sectoral Determination which governs minimum wage rate in the sector will be effective until 30 June 2018.

The minimum rate for employers with 10 or less employees will be a monthly wage of R3 193.12 (2016/2017: R2 959.35); a weekly rate of R736.92 (2016/2017: R689.97); and an hourly rate of R16.36 (2016/2017: R15.17).

The new wages for employers with more than 10 employees will be a minimum monthly rate of R3 559.10 (2016/2017: R3 298.52); a weekly rate of R821.34 (2016/2017: R761.25); and an hourly rate of R18.25 (2016/2017: R16.91).

The latest increase was arrived at using the consumer price index of 6.4 percent plus 1.5 percent. The total increase is 7.9 percent.

Issued by:

Department of Labour Spokesperson

Teboho Thejane

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