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Labour Relations Act, 1995 (Act No. 66 of 1995)

Notices

Bargaining Council for the Furniture Manufacturing Industry

Extension to Non-Parties of the Main Collective Agreement

Chapter 1

10. General

 

10.1 Work under an incentive scheme
10.1.1 Any employer who wishes to introduce an incentive scheme shall set up a joint committee consisting of representatives from management and the establishment's employees which, after consultation with the trade unions which are party to this Agreement whose members are involved, may agree upon the terms of any such scheme.  (Refer to clause 5.1.2).
10.1.2 The terms  of any  such incentive scheme  and any  subsequent  alteration thereto which may have been agreed upon by the committee shall be reduced to writing and be signed by the members of the committee and shall not be varied by the committee or terminated by either party unless the party wishing to vary or terminate the scheme has, in writing, given the other party such notice as may be agreed  upon by the parties when  entering into such  a scheme.

 

10.2 Temporary employment services and/or labour brokers
10.2.1 The temporary employment service and/or labour broker and the employer shall, jointly and severally, be liable if the temporary  employment service and/or labour broker, in respect of any of its employees, contravenes any of the provisions of the Agreement.
10.2.2 A temporary employment service and/or labour broker who supplies labour shall remunerate all occupation skills levels of employees as prescribed in ADDENDUM 2 or ADDENDUM 3 of this Collective Agreement. All the provisions of this Collective Agreement shall mutatis mutandis apply.

 

10.3 Outwork
10.3.1 No employer shall require or allow any of his employees to undertake work in the Industry anywhere other than in his establishment except when such work is in completion of an order placed with such an employer in premises owned or occupied by the person for whom the work is undertaken.
10.3.2 No employee  engaged  in the  Industry  shall  solicit  or take  orders  for  or undertake any work in connection with the Industry on his own account for sale or on behalf of any other person or  establishment, whether for remuneration, reward or not, while in the employ of an employer in the Industry.
10.3.3 No employer who is a member of an employers' organisation that is party to this Agreement shall give out work in connection with the Industry, either in whole or in part, other than to an establishment which has been accepted as a member of the employers' organisation which is a party to this Agreement, and which is registered with the Bargaining Council.

 

10.4 Provision of tools

Work benches, clamps, handscrews, gluepots and all brushes shall be provided by the employer. The employer shall at his expense insure against loss or destruction by fire or as a result of burglary of the premises the tools of his employees normally used by them. Every employee shall be obliged to submit, when required, an inventory of the tools in his possession and shall further submit such information as may be required from time to time by the insurers in respect of the said tools, and shall keep his tools locked in a toolbox.

 

10.5 Employment of children and forced labour

No establishment shall employ any person in contravention of Chapter 6 of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, 1997 (Act 75 of 1997).

 

10.6 Working employers

All working employers shall, at the prescribed foremen's rate of pay, observe the provisions of this Agreement in respect of hours of work as well as the payment of the following:

10.6.1 Leave Pay Fund contributions;
10.6.2 Holiday Bonus Fund contributions;
10.6.3 Provident  Fund contributions;
10.6.4 Death and Funeral Scheme contributions;
10.6.5 Council levies;
10.6.6 Dispute Resolution levies; and
10.6.7 Wages for public holidays.

 

10.7 Prohibited employment

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement, no provision which prohibits the engagement or employment of an employee on any class of work or on any conditions shall be deemed to relieve the employer from paying the remuneration and observing conditions which he would have had to pay or observe had such engagement or employment not been prohibited.

 

10.8 Employment of trade union members

No person shall be prohibited from working in the Industry, because of his trade union affiliation or non-affiliation.

 

10.9 Trade union representatives on the Council and committees of a national character in the Industry

Every employer shall grant to any of his employees who are representatives on the Council, or on committees of the trade unions who are party to the Council, every reasonable facility to attend to their duties in connection with meetings held by these bodies.

 

10.10 Subscriptions to trade unions

Every employer shall  deduct from the wages of those of his employees who are members of a trade union party to the Agreement, union subscriptions in terms of their constitutions and pay such union subscriptions to the concerned union as prescribed by the trade union concerned.

 

10.11 Council levies and Dispute Resolution levies
10.11.1 For the purpose of assisting the Council to meet its expenses, every employer and every employee in the Industry shall pay to the Council an amount as prescribed in ADDENDUM 1 of this Agreement.
10.11.2 Every employer and every employee in the Industry shall pay to the Council a dispute resolution levy as prescribed in ADDENDUM 1 of this Agreement, for the maintenance of a dispute resolution system as required by the Act.

 

10.12 Exhibition of Agreement and notices
10.12.1 Every employer on whom the Collective Agreement is binding shall keep a copy of the Collective Agreement available in the workplace at all times.
10.12.2 Every employer shall display in his establishment in a place readily accessible to his employees a notice of the official hours of work specifying the starting and finishing time of work for each day of the week, the meal interval, and the forenoon and afternoon tea intervals.

 

10.13 Administration and enforcement of Agreement
10.13.1 The Council shall be the body responsible for the administration and enforcement of this Agreement, and may issue expressions of opinion and rulings not inconsistent with the provisions hereof for the guidance of employers and employees in the Industry.
10.13.2 Despite any other provisions of this Agreement, the Council may appoint one or more persons and may request the Minister of Labour to appoint such persons as designated agents in terms of Section 33(1) of the Act to promote, monitor and enforce compliance with this Agreement.
10.13.3 In the event of non-compliance with this Agreement, designated agents may secure compliance by—
10.13.3.1 investigating complaints;
10.13.3.2 conducting inspections;
10.13.3.3 issuing compliance orders ; or
10.13.3.4 adopting any other reasonable means; and
10.13.3.5 performing any other functions which is conferred or imposed on the designated agents by the Council.
10.13.4 In the event that non-compliance prevails after the issuing of a compliance order in terms of sub-clause 10.13.3.3 above, the designated agents may be required to:
10.13.4.1 submit a report to the General Secretary of the Council or any other person so designated by him, specifying that compliance has not been achieved.
10.13.5 Upon receipt of such a report, the General Secretary of the Council or any other person so designated by him, shall—
10.13.5.1 Appoint an arbitrator from the Council's panel of arbitrators  to conciliate and/or arbitrate the matter; or
10.13.5.2 take such steps as may be deemed necessary to give effect to any agreement reached after the compliance order was issued in resolving the matter.
10.13.5.3 A conciliator and arbitrator appointed in terms of this Clause shall have all the powers assigned to them as contemplated by the Act, including but not limited to the charges and penalties as further contemplated  by Section 33A of the Act read with the applicable Regulations.
10.13.6 The General Secretary or person so designated by him may make application to have the arbitration award or settlement agreement, whichever applies, certified as an order of the Labour Court.
10.13.7 A designated agent appointed by the Minister of Employment and Labour under Section 33(1) of the Act, shall in addition to the powers referred to in this Clause, have the powers as assigned to designated agents as set out in the Act in general and in Schedule 10 and Section 142 of the Act, read with the changes required by the context.
10.13.8 In the event of an establishment failing to submit a prescribed return in respect of any month, the Council may make an assessment of the amount due to the Council in terms of the Agreement based on the average number of employees and their respective remuneration rates reflected in the latest monthly return form received from the establishment: Provided that if no monthly return forms have been received by the Council, the Council may make an assessment based on the number of employees furnished by the establishment as reflected on the Council's prescribed registration form of the establishment: Provided that if the establishment did not disclose the number of employees on the prescribed registration form, an assessment will be made based on the evidence obtained by the Council.
10.13.9 In the event that an establishment pays the amount assessed by the Council in terms of clause 10.13.8 and it is found thereafter that the assessment was based on incorrect facts or figures, the Council shall credit the establishment for the amount paid in excess of the amount actually due to the Council and may utilise such credit or portion thereof to defray any enforceable underpayment of previous unpaid amounts to the Council.
10.13.10 In the event that the Council sends an assessment report to the establishment for verification and such establishment fails to submit a written objection within 10 days after receiving the report, the Council may accept such initial report as true and correct.

 

10.14 Provisions declared ultra vires

Should any  provisions of this Agreement be declared ultra vires by any competent court of law, the remaining provisions of this Agreement shall be deemed to be the Agreement and shall remain in operation for the unexpired period of this Agreement.

 

10.15 Protective clothing

Every employer shall supply protective clothing to each employee as specified in terms of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993, which shall remain the property of the employer but, when such clothing is delivered to the employee concerned, he shall become responsible for the cleaning and maintenance of the protective clothing.

 

10.16 Compulsory retirement age

Any employee in the Industry shall retire at the age of 65 years, unless otherwise agreed by between the employer and employee.

 

10.17 Late/non-payment and allocation of fees, levies and contributions
10.17.1 All fees, levies and contributions payable in terms of this Agreement shall be paid to the Council monthly by not later than the 10th day of the month following the month to which they relate.
10.17.2 An employer who is in arrears with any payments, having been warned in writing by the Council to forward the outstanding amounts within seven days of the date of such warning, may be required by the Council to pay the amounts weekly on such terms and conditions as determined by the Council from time to time.
10.17.3 The Council shall have the right to allocate prescribed employer and employee levies, contributions and fees received on behalf of employees from employers, to the Funds of the employees concerned as the Council deems appropriate from time to time.
10.17.4 In the event that the employer fails to pay the Death and Funeral Scheme (D.F.S.) contributions as prescribed by this Agreement, it shall result in the employee not having cover for D.F.S benefits in which instance the employer shall be liable for the payment of the D.F.S. benefits due to the late employee, as determined by the applicable insurance policy or the rules of the Scheme.

 

10.18 Interest payable on outstanding/unpaid fees, levies and contributions

In the event that any fees, levies and/or contributions become due and payable to the Council by the 10th day of the month following the month to which an amount or any portion of such an amount relates in terms of this Agreement and such amount or any portion of such amount remains outstanding and unpaid, the establishment and/or employer concerned  shall be liable to pay interest in accordance  with the following provisions:

10.18.1 The interest payable shall be compounded daily on the outstanding/unpaid amount from the 11th of every month in which it is due, until the full amount due has been paid to the Council;
10.18.2 Outstanding/unpaid Provident Fund contributions shall be subject to interest at a rate as prescribed by the Pension Funds Act, 1956 (Act 24 of 1956)(as amended); and
10.18.3 All other outstanding/unpaid fees, levies and contributions shall be subject to interest at a rate as prescribed by the Prescribed Rate of Interest Act, 1975 (Act 55 of 1975)(as amended).

 

10.19 Audit and accounting

The Council shall ensure that proper books of account and records are kept in respect of each of the Funds administered by it, and that an annual audit of each of the Funds is performed in accordance with the provisions of the Act and the Council's Constitution.