The Labour Relations Amendment Act was signed into law on 17 August 2014, however its operative date must still be announced by the President. The Amendment Act places significant restrictions on the use of fixed term and part-time contracts, as well as labour brokers.
Exclusions from these provisions apply to “small businesses” – i.e. a business with fewer than 10 employees; or fewer than 50 employees when it is the sole business of the employer and the business has been in operation for less than 2 years.
The “benefits” of using non-standard employees that some employers may have exploited thus far, have been all but eliminated with the new provisions.
Temporary employees
A limited duration (fixed-term) contract is one entered into for a temporary period, for example to relieve an employee who is temporarily absent; for completion of a specific project or until a specified event occurs.
On termination of the temporary contract, the employee does not have a right to further employment (either renewal of the contract or permanent employment) – unless the employee reasonably expected such further employment. If such an expectation is proved to exist and the employer did not offer further employment, this could constitute dismissal. Note that the test for the existence of a “reasonable expectation” includes many factors, and the number of times the contract might have been renewed in the past, is only one factor.
In addition to this principle, the LRA Amendment Act now adds further protection to lower-earning employees against possible abuse by employer of temporary appointments. For example, when a position is not really temporary but the employer wants to “try out” the employee and, if it does not work out, appoints someone else on the same basis upon expiry of the contract; or the employer prefers temporary employees because the cost of employment is less – mostly because of the lack of benefits such as medical aid, pension, bonuses, etc.
The new provisions below only apply to employees on a fixed-term contract earning less than
Read more: Non-standard employment under the LRA Amendment Act
Behind every great business is a great team of employees, but actually getting your employees to perform at the best of their ability is sometimes far easier said than done, and that is where Prize Voucher’s employee incentive programmes come in. Here is a look at what we need and how it works.
What we need from you
Basically, this can be described as the brief if you like. From here it is down to you to tell us what it is you are looking to achieve from our programme. For example, do you want to reward your employees for outstanding work? Do you want to provide an incentive to encourage employees to work that little bit harder? Or are you simply looking for a fun and enjoyable way of making the workplace more enjoyable and productive? Once you have answered these and other questions to clarify your objectives, we will do the rest.
So what happens next?
Once we have received your information and your goals/targets,
Read more: Why Employee Incentive Schemes are perfect for you and your Business
Employee recognition, that is effectively executed, reinforces the desired actions and behaviours you want to see your employees repeat. Recognising employee achievements helps to boost the confidence and pride that staff take in their work. Employee recognition awards are an investment that rewards and reinforces desired employee behavior, and results in the organisation’s values.
Ehow.com states that an employee awards or recognition program may
Read more: How to identify Criteria for Employee Recognition
Many companies only approach staff retention during disruptive periods of organisational change by throwing financial incentives at senior executives or star performers. Most companies rarely balance their money spend well or have the knowhow on employee retention allocation. Many recent studies on employee retention show that employees would have
The increasing need for contract or ad hoc skills in business and the emergence of the ‘millennial’ employee has forced a change in Human Capital Management (HCM). Today, claim experts, the onus is on decision makers to ensure that their HR and payroll solutions are adapted accordingly and can facilitate the level of flexibility now required.
James McKerrell, CEO of CRS Technologies, explains that the ‘millennial’ employee is one who has a
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