PROFILE PERSONNEL WISHES ALL OUR
CLIENTS & CANDIDATES A HAPPY EASTER!  

APRIL - The countdown begins to Easter, and with it all those tempting, beautifully delicious chocolate bunnies, chickens and eggs!!!  Beware – they bite – always on the hips, and a chunk out of your bank account.

DON’T FORGET – a call to Irene for your “extra pair of hands” while your staff are enjoying these chocolate bunnies on our beautiful beaches.  We are a hop, skip and a call away!

For this month’s information on the Basic Conditions of Employment, we have taken an extract on Temporary Contracts, Public Holidays and Casual Employees for your perusal.  Should you require any other additional information, please do not hesitate to give us a call.

Public Holidays and Contract / Temporary / Casual Employees

With more public holidays ahead of us, let’s examine the legal requirements for paid public holidays in respect of temporary employees.  First principle is that the law makes no distinction between temporary and permanent employees.  In terms of the Public Holidays Act and the Basic Conditions Act of Employment Act (BCEA) all employees (including contractors or temporary employees of personnel agencies, who would normally have worked on that public holiday) are entitled to paid time off on public holidays.  Should they work on a public holiday, it can only be with their consent and they must receive double pay.  In terms of the Public Holidays Act, the statutory public holidays for South Africa are:

New Year’s Day 1 January
Human Rights Day 21 March
Good Friday, Friday before Easter Sunday
Freedom Day 27 April
Workers Day 1 May
Youth Day 16 June
National Women’s Day 9 August
Heritage Day 24 September
Day of Reconciliation 16 December
Christmas Day 25 December
Day of Goodwill 26 December

• Whenever a public holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday shall be a public holiday.  This does not apply to public holidays, which fall on a Saturday.
• An employer can enter into an agreement with an employee / employees to exchange a public holiday as a working day for any other day.
• The parties may also agree to paid time off instead of double payment for working on a public holiday.  The BCEA requires that two paid ordinary days leave be granted for every one pubic holiday worked.  This may be accumulated for up to 12 months.
• Should more than 50% of a shift be worked on a public holiday employees must receive double pay for the whole shift.
• All employees are entitled to at least the number of public holidays, which are provided for in the Act.  It should be noted that this includes temporary employees, contract workers and what used to be called casual employees.  Managers are also covered by these stipulations.

Excerpt from the APSOGram – 1st Quarter 2010 (Written by Johann Le Roux, TES Chairperson)