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Chapter 6 - Labour LawSectoral determinationsA sectoral determination controls the terms and conditions of employment for employees in that particular sector. It may set minimum wages in sectors, regulate payment in kind, regulate pension and medical aid schemes, prohibit or regulate piece work, set minimum standards for housing for employees who live on the employer's premises, and so on. Sectoral determinations will be set in sectors where there is no centralised collective bargaining, and which require detailed and specific regulations (e.g. the agricultural sector). Sectoral determinations may have different conditions to those in the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA). The conditions in the sectoral determinations will override the conditions in the BCEA. How are sectoral determinations made?The Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) provides for the establishment of an Employment Conditions Commission which investigates conditions in a particular industry or sector. Meetings are held to discuss the establishment of a sectoral determination. Anyone who is interested in having a say in a particular industry can attend these meetings which are advertised in the government gazette. When the Employment Conditions Commission has heard all the information, it makes recommendations to the Minister of Labour. Once the Minister approves the recommendations, they are published in the Government Gazette as a Wage Determination or sectoral determination. Enforcement of a sectoral determinationIt is the Department of Labour's job to make sure that all employers and employees obey the conditions of employment laid out in sectoral determinations and Wage Determinations. If you are helping an employee who is covered by a sectoral determination or Wage Determination, you refer the problem to the Department of Labour if you have tried and cannot solve the problem with the employer on your own. See Problem 3: Employee is paid below the minimum wage. Settling disputes under a sectoral determinationIt is also the Department of Labour's job to help with the settling of disputes.
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