THE IMPORTANCE OF COMPLIANCE: MINIMUM WAGES (NMW): IMPIMPI ALIVE
We, at Indgro Multi Services Group™, are committed to provide you with industry related information which is both informative and educational. From 01 May 2019 Temporary and or Contract Employees (Assignees) and permanent Employees can report an employer for not paying the R20 (Twenty Rand) per hour minimum wage, or as indicated below to the Department of Labour (DOL).
The project called “Impimpi Alive”, will enable employees to send anonymous SMS messages to the Department of Labour, which will despatch an inspector within 48 (Forty-eight) hours. Names of the companies that are found to be paying less than R20 (Twenty Rand) per hour will be made public, in addition to the fines that may be issued.
So far in 2019, 292 referrals have been made to the CCMA, predominantly in KwaZulu and Gauteng, mainly for employers failing to pay any amount owing and unilateral changes to terms and conditions of employment in response to the minimum wage implementation.
Problematic sectors include business and professional services, safety and security, building and construction, retail, food and beverage, contract cleaning, transport, agriculture and farming, and private educators.
The minimum wage rate is R20 (Twenty Rand) per hour, R18 (Eighteen Rand) for farm workers and R15 (Fifteen Rand) for domestic workers.
Fines:
Employers can be fined:
- Twice the value of the underpayment or
- Twice the employee’s monthly wage.
- The fine can be imposed retrospectively until 01 January 2019 or the date at which the minimum wage was not met.
From the second non-compliance, the fine is:
- Triple the value of the underpayment or
- Triple the monthly wage.
- Retrospective.
The Department of Labour has added minimum wage compliance to the usual inspections. The Impimpi Alive initiative is intended to increase the level of employer compliance.
Reference_ https://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/607/189627.html
André Naudé Ph.D.
