Question NW211 to the Minister of Employment and Labour
23 February 2024 - NW211
Ceza, Mr K to ask the Minister of Employment and Labour
In light of section 198(b) of the Labour Relations Act, Act 55 of 1995, which provides for the deeming provision and that employees must be provided with equal access to opportunities, what preventive measures has his department taken against whiteowned companies who extend fixed-term contracts for a period as long as 20 years, thereby avoiding the deeming provision and circumventing the national minimum wage legislation and making sure that the bargaining power remains in their hands?
Reply:
Honourable Ceza, any contract of employment that exceeds three months, the law deems such an employee as permanent. All the rights and obligations other employees are entitled to, such an employee is also entitled to these rights and obligations. Should such an employee be dismissed for unjustifiable reasons or denied the same right that other permanent employees have, they have a recourse through the CCMA despite the nature of their contract.
The law is clear that there is no worker or employee in this country who must be paid below the national minimum wage despite the nature of their contract. The national minimum wage is the floor right that no employee or worker should be paid below it.
The law stipulates that bargaining councils cannot negotiate wages below what the national minimum wage prescribe. Their wage negotiations start from what the national minimum wage prescribes and can only be negotiated upwards and not downwards. It is important for the Honourable member to note that our collective bargaining system is based on improving the basic conditions of employment and the national minimum wage ups.
END