Labour Watch Newsletter

Your 15 Minute Labour Adviser

  How to solve all your labour and HR problems for less than R1.90

Dear Reader

I propose, in one quick step, to show you how to save hundreds, maybe thousands, of rands on your employee problems this year. I will put the power of labour specialists behind you, and it’s all free for 14 days.

Do you know the answers to any of these questions?

Question: Do you know about the new employment equity system? No? It could cost you R900 000.

Question: Poor recruiting? Can you fire an employee before he starts his first day?

Question: What are your rights? 50 employees, 2 000 leave days owed. Do you pay them out, tell them to forfeit it or force them to take the leave?

Do you spend thousands on phone calls to your labour consultant to get answers to questions just like these? Or spend hours trying to find answers yourself? Here’s how you can handle labour and HR issues yourself in just a few minutes a month for less than R1.90 a day.

Here’s how to get every one of your labour questions answered in only 15 minutes a month

I’d like to send you a free issue of our new Labour Watch newsletter.

No more wading through countless information sources to keep up-to-date: Labour Watch will do it all for you. In only 15 minutes a month, you’ll be 100% informed on the latest developments in the world of labour law and human resources.

If you accept this offer within the next 5 days, you’ll receive:

• The next issue of Labour Watch, free of charge
• Free weekly labour email newsletter
• Labour Law Survival Pack cd with 15 employment forms to simplify your life and protect your business
• A special discount if you decide to become a regular subscriber

Labour Watch doesn’t give you theoretical jargon. We give you actionable advice you can use every day in your company.

 

Like the advice we gave our readers in the May 2009 issue, you would have found out how to avoid a fine of R900 000. By following our 6 simple steps to implement the new employment equity system to review your workplace for EE compliance.

No more unfair dismissal claims, back-payments for leave, overtime, pension and other benefits from your contractors if you used our independent contractor test in the July issue!

100s of time saving employee management nuggets in 8 pages a month

I can’t predict what nuggets of labour-saving gold you’ll see in the pages of Labour Watch during the next year. Decisions and changes are happening all the time, not just every month but every day.

That, in fact, is part of the value you get. Your information isn’t stale. It’s current.

In fact, here are some examples of the hard facts on labour and HR you’d have benefited from if you were already a subscriber:

• No more lengthy disciplinary hearings: now you can dismiss employees without a hearing.
• Had enough of troublemakers? Here’s how to deal with them without landing up in court
• It’s not as easy as you think…are you calculating leave pay correctly: 2 things you must know about annual leave

How will Labour Watch help you?

• Say goodbye to worrying about missing important labour law changes and deadlines
• Save time with our quick hints and handy tools that make managing employees 100 times quicker and easier!
• Save money by reading about expensive mistakes employers have made in the latest court cases so you can avoid these in the future!
• Avoid legal wrangles by getting specific and detailed advice on common problem situations for managers and employers.
• Avoid hassle by using our sample forms and contract clauses.

If you’re not convinced that Labour Watch can really solve all of your labour problems then please read the information below.

Don’t wait any longer, complete the Risk-Free Trial Order Form today so I can post your free issue of Labour Watch to you today.

Regards,

 

R. Paterson
Publisher

PS: Remember, to complete your risk-free trial order form today to receive the latest labour information.

 

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Sangoma sick notes – you must accept them, right?

Find out what the Constitutional Court had to say – you may be surprised!

They’re still a no-go. You don’t have to accept them as excuses for absenteeism. Why? Only because the Traditional Health Practitioners Act, gazetted in February 2005, was promptly tossed out of our law again by the Constitutional Court last year.
 

When don’t you have to pay for sick leave?

You don’t have to accept a doctor’s note if it doesn’t contain all 11 requirements. If you suspect it may be a fraudulent note, call the doctor to check the details. You don’t have to pay for all the ‘sick leave’ days if the doctor said on the note the patient only came to see him on, say, day four of the illness but the patient told him he had been sick for the previous three days as well. Make sure you calculate leave and sick pay – without the hassles.

Warning: New Code passed! Now your contractors could claim employee rights

Pay very careful attention to how you regulate the contracts and working conditions of your employees or people who provide a service to your business. Don’t treat someone as an independent contractor if they’re really an employee because you want to avoid the LRA, the BCEA and other important labour laws. If you do, you could very easily face not only a claim for unfair dismissal but also claims for back-payments for leave, overtime, pension and other benefits.

A new Code was passed in December 2006 to prevent you from disguising employees as ‘atypical’ workers and trying to escape your obligations under the labour laws.

Labour Watch keeps you updated on new regulations and how you must implement them in your business.

“This is the best reading material on the market” J. Pelzer
“Best investment I ever made. Informative, up to date, good guidelines” MGS Lolat

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How to get clear and fast answers to your Labour and HR questions

Here’s a few questions I’ve answered in past issues. Do you know the answers? Are you sure you followed the correct procedure? Doing one thing wrong could cost your company thousands or  you could end up at the CCMA.

What can you do if an employee disputes a written warning?
Q: What is the best and correct procedure to follow when an employee disputes a written warning you have given him?

Must I include commission in leave pay?
Q: Our salesperson gets paid a basic wage plus commission. He’s applied for 4 days leave. Is he entitled to commission when he’s not working? How do I calculate it?

What if my employee wants to work more overtime than is legally allowed?
Q: According to the law an employee may not work more than 10 hours a week. What must I do if an employee is willing to work more than this legal amount?

Paternity leave – does it exist?
Q: Can a father claim three days’ family responsibility leave for the birth of his child, or can he be granted additional paternity leave?

Must you include bonuses in retrenchment packages?
Q: We are retrenching an employee for operational reasons. She earns a cost to company salary, including a 13th cheque as a bonus. The bonus is a privilege not a right. Should it form part of the total remuneration calculation?
  

  Quick tips in every issue

Our readers love the quick tips they can implement immediately in their business.

Tip #1
If you have agreed in your employment contract to pay overtime, you are bound by your agreement. You should therefore, be careful of saying that overtime will be paid if an employee could, over a period, receive salary increases so he ends up earning more than R149 736 per year.

Write this clause into your contracts:
Currently employees who earn less than R149 736 per year must be paid for overtime worked. If, at any stage during your employment, your remuneration is increased so that you fall outside this threshold, you will no longer be paid for overtime worked, although you will still be obliged to work overtime as and when required.

Tip #2
How to handle employees who won’t attend hearings
Always give the employee notice to attend a hearing if dismissal could be the outcome. Hold the hearing as a safety precaution, even if she has said she won’t attend. If she doesn’t pitch up, get the chair to contact her or her representative there and then. If she gives a valid excuse (e.g. she is sick), tell her you will postpone it. If she gives a feeble excuse or none at all, proceed in her absence. If you made a mistake at the beginning and told her she was fired without telling her of her right to a hearing, fix it ASAP. Tell her she can choose an independent external party to chair the hearing, at your expense.

Tip #3
If you haven’t authorised leave days for an employee, you don’t have to pay for them, even if the employee has the days in his leave bank. What’s more, you can take disciplinary action for his behaviour.
 

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 New Case Law – are you keeping up-to-date?

Every month we’re seeing more and more cases which are setting a precedent… and that you need to be aware of. Reading the lengthy case summaries makes it even more confusing. What do these cases actually mean for you?

Labour Watch will tell you what each case means for you. Whether you have to change a policy, procedure or implement something new. In the last three issues of Labour Watch we advised our subscribers on recent legislation and regulations:

You’ve been warned: New system to rate your employment equity in 2007
The Director General has made EE compliance his project this year. A brand new system has been designed to allow him to easily review your workplace.

New risk for employers: You may have to pay thousands for racist actions of employees
In the first ever case of its kind in South Africa, the Court has found you liable for the actions of racist employees if you fail to take proper action. Don’t get caught out! Read how you can protect yourself.

Had enough of troublemakers? Here’s how to deal with them without landing up in court
What do you do about persistent troublemakers – the one’s who are good performers yet just love to stir? There was some confusion in the past as to whether you could retrench them, fire them for misconduct or counsel them and send them packing for being incompatible with your ‘corporate culture’. This case explains exactly what you should do.

Good news, now you don’t have to hold a formal hearing before you dismiss!
Ahem…too sick to attend a disciplinary enquiry? The SCA says you can dig deeper, beyond a doctor’s certificate, to find out why. Which means you can continue in the employee’s absence even when he claims to be too ill to attend a hearing. Learn how.

Make sure your restraints of trade stand up in court
Two recent decisions of the Supreme Court of Appeals produced different results while applying the same tests. See why and what it means for you.
 

Discover how to turn your biggest labour issue into your smallest problem

In every issue of Labour Watch, two pages are dedicated to a specific topic. You’ll receive valuable suggestions that may help you avoid expensive and annoying mistakes! Here are 3 samples of advice from previous special features

Don’t know where to start with BEE? Here’s how to get on top of it today!

You need to start planning your BEE strategy so you can comply with the new Code of Good Practice. Here are 3 of the 17 questions you can use to get the strategy process started that we gave our readers in the June 2009 issue of Labour Watch.

How to improve your enterprise development:

The Codes encourage you to support small and micro-enterprises.

1. Can you use existing smaller suppliers? (This will also help your own preferential procurement score.)
2. Can you outsource non-core business functions to help empower other businesses?
3. Could you create a relationship with another company that could increase your value offering to your clients?

How to increase your preferential procurement

You should source goods and services from empowered suppliers. First assess which of your current suppliers are empowered.

Ask your empowered suppliers:

• What is your level of black ownership?
• What is your anticipated scorecard for next year?

For your suppliers that are not empowered:
• Are there alternative empowered suppliers you could use that can provide the same cost and quality?
•  Are these suppliers planning on becoming empowered in the future?

An easy way to calculate leave and sick pay – without the hassles

3 things you must know about annual leave

1. Your employee becomes sick while on annual leave, must you credit the annual leave days? You must credit the employee’s leave balance for the period of illness on the doctor’s certificate. No certificate, no credit. E.g. Joe is on annual leave for five days. He is sick on 2 of those days and has a doctor’s certificate. His annual leave will only be counted as 3 days.

2. If you haven’t authorised the leave, you don’t have to pay for it, even if the employee has the days in his leave bank. What’s more, you can take disciplinary action for this behaviour.

3. Annual leave during notice periods is a big no! You can’t insist on or allow employees to take annual leave during notice (Section 20(5) of the BCEA). You’re also not allowed to give notice of termination to employees on annual, sick, maternity or family responsibility leave. Only sick leave can run concurrently with a notice period. And, no, you can’t extend the notice period to make the employee work the days she was sick during notice.

New Seta grant regulations: Apply for your grant now.

Make sure you meet these 5 criteria to qualify

If you want to recover a grant against a levy payment you must meet the eligibility criteria. Now, a Seta must not pay any grant unless you:

• have registered with the Commissioner in terms of the Skills Development Act
• have paid your skills levies on time
• are up-to-date with your levy payments
• have submitted a Workplace Skills Plan on time
• from 2006/2007 financial year and in subsequent financial years, have submitted an Annual Training Report. This report must be verified by the Seta Board or Council as having contributed to the implementation of the previous financial year’s Workplace Skills Plan. If you are involved in adult basic education and training this criterion doesn’t apply. 

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 What our readers have to say:

“Brilliant. Without it I would have cost the company a lot of money.”
J. Tomlinson

"Absolutely essential. User friendly. Very comprehensive."
G. De Kock

"Best investment I ever made. Informative, up to date, good guidelines"
MGS Lolat

"Thanks a million for a wonderful service and publication"
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"It is essential to any business, and the bonus is it is written in a way that is easy to understand and relates to your business' day to day tasks"
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“It is concise and to the point. Easy to read and appropriate”
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“It keeps me constantly abreast of the latest information”
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“I was busy with an interview when I used the tip on questions asked at an interview. The answers were very revealing. Thank you.”
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“We seem to have been able to avoid sticky situations with a positive attitude and your good information!”
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“Everything you need to know in the “jungle” out there”
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“Absolutely invaluable for the entrepreneur.”
J. Stevenson

“Very useful, saves many errors”
N. Waldon

“The most useful tool to have in your business. Thank you!”
H. Ridlett

“Wonderful source of up to date information, especially changes I would not otherwise be aware of for small businesses and ccs”
C. Baudry

How to simplify your life and protect your business

The Labour Law Survival Pack, valued at R300, is yours free when you subscribe to Labour Watch.

This invaluable CD includes 15 employment forms and policies for you to use in your business. You can add your own company logo and amend them for your specific requirements or check that your current forms are 100% correct.

This CD includes:

• Absenteeism form
• Acknowledgement of debt form
• Attendance improvement plan
• Certificate of service
• Disciplinary hearing notification
• Disciplinary policy
• Employee resignation form
• Grievance form
• Grievance policy and procedure
• Incapacity investigation record form
• Leave policy
• Retrenchment consultation letter
• Performance evaluation form
• Staff exit form
• Written warning form 

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So, how much does Labour Watch cost?

I want you to try Labour Watch without committing a cent. Simply complete the Risk-free Trial within the next 10 days and I’ll send you your first issue FREE. You’ll have 14 days to look through your first free issue. If after these 14 days you decide not to continue, it won’t cost you a cent – the free issue is yours to keep. Simply let us know and we’ll immediately stop sending any further issues.

Enjoy our 100% risk free trial offer – with a 50% discount

If you do decide to continue (and I’m sure you will), you’ll pay a discounted rate of only R670 per year. (Which is a minimal fee when you consider that lawyers can charge more than R1 000 an hour).

That’s 12 monthly issues, packed full of labour advice, tips and case law to solve your daily labour and HR problems. Plus, don’t forget about the fortnightly email newsletter, website access, Labour Law Survival Pack CD and labour questions we’ll answer.

Or better yet! Reply today and get 24 issues for just R970 – that’s a 50% saving off the full publisher’s price! If at any time you decide that you don’t want to continue your subscription, let us know and we’ll refund all unmailed issues. No questions asked.

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 7 Reasons why you must request your free issue of Labour Watch today

1. We’ll keep you 100% up to date with labour law
You’ll stay 100% up-to-date with labour law and benefit from the latest HR tips, tools and guidelines. We’ll make sure you aren’t surprised by any new laws, judgments, deadlines or important developments so you can protect your business and stay one step ahead of your competitors. Put our quick hints, checklists, proven sample templates and useful suggestions into practice immediately.

2. If you have any labour or HR questions – send them to us
As a subscriber, you can send us labour problems you have and we’ll make sure you get an answer. This service could save you thousands in lawyers fees.

3. Save money
Labour Watch WILL save your company money. We’re here to tell you about expensive mistakes other employers have made, and how you can avoid these same mistakes; the latest court cases and what they actually mean for you. If you get even one useful tip… if you get even one pointer alerting you to an error in your labour procedures… this advice will pay for your subscription many times over..

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Clear your desk... no more pages of confusing text. Instead of trawling through the government gazettes, and numerous legal publications to make sure you’re updated, Labour Watch will do it for you. In only 15 minutes a month you can be guaranteed that you’ll be kept up-to-date.

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7. You don’t risk a cent
When you get your first issue of Labour Watch, read through it. Make any notes you think will be valuable. Then decide. If you decide Labour Watch isn’t for you… if you don’t think it will save you thousands of rands you’d otherwise pour down the drain in legal fees and lost time, you don’t have to pay, just tell us so. We’ll cancel your subscription, and that will be the end of the matter. The free issue is yours to keep.
 

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