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Chapter 8 - Labour Law

General summary of a wage regulating measure

Collective agreements, Bargaining Council Agreements (BCAs), Wage Determinations and sectoral determinations (S/WDs) which regulate terms and conditions of employment are commonly called wage regulating measures.

It is important to remember that the conditions and wages usually differ from one BCA or S/WD to the next. In other words all these Agreements and Determinations talk about a period of notice, but in one Wage Determination the notice period may be one week while in another it may be two weeks.

Below is a list of the more common aspects relating to conditions of employment which appear in all wage regulating measures:

• Area and scope: 
  defines the geographical area where the BCA or S/WD applies, and describes the type of work covered by the BCA or S/WD. 
• Definitions:
  defines the different categories of workers, including casual workers. 
• Remuneration:
  This tells you what wage each of the different categories of workers must be paid. Workers from the same category who work in different areas may be paid different wages. For example, one worker who works in Cape Town, an urban area, and another worker who works in Worcester, a rural area, may be paid different wages according to the wage regulating measure. 
• Payment of remuneration:
  how workers should be paid their wages. An employer must hand the worker his or her wages with certain details on a payslip. 
• Deductions:
  the deductions which an employer may make from the wages of a worker. 
• Hours of work and pay:

This section tells you exactly how many hours of work the employer can expect the worker to work, either ordinary time or overtime, or Sundays and public holidays. The section also says how much extra the worker must get paid for ordinary overtime or Sundays and public holidays.

• Annual leave and sick leave:

This section tells you exactly how much leave workers can take every year, and how much they should be paid when they take this leave. The section also says how much workers who worked for less than a year should be paid when they leave their work.

The BCA or S/WD also says exactly how many days a worker can be paid for being off sick. In most cases the worker must produce a medical certificate if he or she was sick for more than two days (check this out in the relevant BCA or S/WD).

• Piece work and commission work:
  Piece-work means that a worker is not paid for the hours that he or she works. The worker is paid for the number of items produced. A worker should not get less than the minimum wage set for that sector/industry if paid on a piece-work basis. 
• Termination of contract of employment:
  The relevant BCA or S/WD will say how much notice an employer must give. In some industries it is only one week's notice. In other industries it may be two weeks. 
• Prohibition of employment:
  The BCA or S/WD may say who is not allowed to do this work, for example pregnant women. The Basic Conditions of Employment Act says children between the ages of 15 and 18 may not perform work that places their well-being, education, or physical and mental health at risk. The BCA or S/WD may say that this work does place these children at risk and so is only suitable for people over the age of 18. 
• Dispute resolution:
  The Labour Relations Act allows workers and employers to collectively agree to dispute resolution procedures that differ from those in the Act. This affects BCAs and other collective agreements.

The BCA or S/WD will have other sections, for example what uniforms, overalls and protective clothing workers must wear, what records employers must keep, and so on.

If there are any particular terms or conditions of employment that are not specified by the BCA or S/WD, then those terms or conditions of employment in the Basic Conditions of Employment Act apply to workers.