Although I’m sure many of us are looking forward to all the holidays and long weekends in April, it’s a difficult month from a productivity point of view. And now we have another Public Holiday! The President has declared Election Day, 22 April 2009, a Public Holiday throughout the Republic (Government Gazette No. 32039 of 19 March 2009). What does this mean for you?

Retrenchment, retrenchment, retrenchment! Is there any way to avoid the word that seems to be on everyone’s lips at the moment? Apparently not! Reports vary; some saying retrenchment levels are rising rapidly and others saying things aren’t as bad as the doomsayers proclaim. Please just make sure you follow the correct procedure or you’ll end up paying even more money if your employees take you to the CCMA. And how will that help if you’re in dire financial straits already?

What does the law say about "confidentiality of salaries?" Are employees entitled to know how much their colleagues are earning, even if they’re in the same position and have worked for the same amount of time? Can my employee accuse me of discrimination as far as salaries are concerned?

One of our employees is behaving very aggressively towards the foreman and his fellow workers. This behaviour happens every time he is short of money or has no money. He owes money to a bank and it deducts what he owes automatically from his bank account, but he believes this is the company’s fault.