Inside this issue...

- CCMA feels the pressure!

Dear reader,

Last week the Financial Mail reported that the CCMA is feeling the effects of the economic downturn: its caseload has increased by 28% between September 2007 and last year!

According to the article, it began with Eskom and its load-shedding schedule at the beginning of last year, dropped slightly just afterwards, and then shot up again in September.

Both types of retrenchment have increased

In small-scale retrenchment (Section 189), the volume of retrenchments has been growing steadily, which means small employers have been significantly affected. In large-scale employment (Section 189(A)), there’s been an enormous increase in the number of retrenchments. For example, the Northern Cape, which has never before had a Section 189(A), has had seven in the last month, all in the mining sector!

This makes it all the more essential that your business is 100% up-to-date on its compliancy with labour laws. You don’t want to get into trouble with the Department of Labour and then be forced to downsize your business to make up for the costs you pay in penalties! For instance...

What are our legal obligations to a retrenched employee?

Question

We retrenched a staff member this month. We gave her notice at the end of January and she worked for the whole month. She was employed for one year. We are in the electrical industry.

We need to know what her retrenchment package should be (required by law)?

Answer

The 'electrical industry' is vast and depending on the exact nature of your core business, you could fall into the jurisdiction of any number of bargaining councils. If you don't know if you are covered by a particular bargaining council, you should contact your nearest Department of Labour office.

That said, the minimum severance pay that the Basic Conditions of Employment Act says you must pay an employee who is retrenched, is one week’s remuneration per completed year of service.

I see she has already worked her notice so that means you must pay her at least a week's remuneration, plus any outstanding leave days, overtime or any other moneys due to her. You should also assist her to claim UIF as far as possible.

Yours sincerely,

Lucelle Buchler
Editor-in-Chief

PS: If you have a query regarding payments, deliveries and change of address details, please send an email to gcs@fsp.co.za.