LABOUR inspectors have uncovered widespread non-compliance to labour laws in the hospitality industry in the Western Cape’s most popular tourist destination.
This is according to Advocate Caroline Kwetepane who was speaking at a seminar hosted by the Department of Employment and Labour under the theme: "Paying the National Minimum Wage is the Right Thing to Do". The seminar looked at compliance to labour laws in the hospitality sector following inspections in Mossel Bay and Knysna from August 16 to 20.
Kwetepane said the department’s inspection and enforcement was focused on compliance issues around the Basic Conditions of Employment (BCE) Act and the National Minimum Wage (NMW) Act.
In four days inspectors visited 64 workplaces and found some areas had contraventions that included:
*Underpayment of the minimum wage
*Illegal wage deductions
*Long hours of work and no registration to the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) and Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act.
Kwetepane said 20 workplaces were issued with notices for the employers to correct these issues.
“They did not provide employees with contracts of employment. They fail to keep copies of the act at premises for employees to be able [to read] how the Basic Conditions of Employment applies to them in the industry,” she said.
Inspectors also found that 70% of workplaces did not comply with the requirements of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
“We visited 64 workplaces and out of those, only 17 were found to be compliant and 47 found to be non-compliant. We issued notices for employers to correct the non-compliance. On OHS, only 27% were compliant, meaning over 73% were non-compliant,” she added.
Inspections also found that several employers did not have sufficient fire safety equipment which meant in event of a fire break out, there would be no necessary means available to put out that fire.
As many as 77 employers were reviewed for their compliance regarding their contribution to the UIF.
“Out of the 77, only 25 were found to be compliant. We issued 52 notices. We found that employers failed to register employees and those that did, failed to register employees, failed to contribute to the fund,” she said.