Department of Labour director general Jimmy Manyi told the portfolio committee on labour that a DG’s hotline would be set up in November 2009 to monitor the performance of public servants.<\/p>\n
“If a labour centre is constantly receiving negative reports from people who call the hotline, steps will be taken against the implicated office,” he said.<\/p>\n
“In the event that the office is not performing, such information will be evaluated and used during performance evaluations.”<\/p>\n
Manyi said a number of blitz inspections would be carried out on companies to ensure compliance with labour laws.<\/p>\n
In cases where non-compliance was discovered, “punitive measures” would be taken against such employers.<\/p>\n
The issues of compliance with labour laws refer to sectoral determination issues, employment equity issues, occupational health and safety issues and the basic conditions of employment issues, according to a statement from the department.<\/p>\n
Manyi said proposals were afoot to ensure that companies complied with employment equity by increasing the penalties that would be imposed on companies.<\/p>\n
A penalty levy of 10 percent of a company’s turnover would serve as a disincentive against non-compliance, he said.<\/p>\n
For example, a company with a turnover of R1 billion would be fined R100 million for non-compliance with employment equity laws.<\/p>\n
The deputy director general responsible for service delivery, Siyanda Zondeki, said the lack of sufficient inspectors was a contributing factor in the current low levels of compliance with labour laws.<\/p>\n
She said that the available inspectors were unable to reach all sectors within the preferred time frames.<\/p>\n
“Part of improving this compliance rate involves upgrading the salary levels of inspectors, speedy filling of inspector vacancies and ongoing training and development of inspectors,” Zondeki said.<\/p>\n