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Davies Ndumiso Sibanda Labour matters
MANY businesses find themselves in trouble with NECs when they have dismissed a worker and have been reported to NEC where the findings of the NEC will be that the employer was underpaying the worker and was doing many other things that are not consistent with the law.For an employer to avoid related costs, it is advisable that the employer should know which industry his business belongs to and ensure that he complies with all the legal requirements of the NEC. This can be done personally or through a human resources or labour consultant who will most likely provide a once off service or can provide continuous services on a retainer basis. While this costs money, it is much cheaper than the cost of litigation.

Further, the employer has to establish the grades in which the employees are in as guided by the particular NEC grading schedules. He must also be clear on benefits that are clear on each grade and be knowledgeable on how matters such as overtime, leave, housing allowance, transport allowance, shift allowance, travel and subsistence allowances and many others are handled.

An alternative is to invite the NEC designated agent to come and do a compliance audit. While this route is unpopular with many employers who feel it could result in waking up sleeping dogs, thus leaving the employer with problems. It is one of the most effective and cheapest options.

Where the employer after an audit finds there are areas of improvement, there is a need to engage the workers’ committee and agree on the way forward such as; effective date of change and how it will be addressed. In most cases where labour cases environment is good, parties usually agree to connect going forward rather than backwards whenever they meet issues that do not comply with NEC provisions.

Employers and workers’ committees are encouraged to get training on NEC conditions of service so as to assist each other in ensuring compliance at all times.

Compliance with NEC is usually viewed as a peripheral issue in the running of the business until the NEC catches up with you and so many problems emerge and by the time the issues settle down, a good chunk of what the employer was trying to save could actually be lost to litigation and compliance related costs.

In conclusion, it is recommended that every employer should know the NEC that covers his business, the grades covered by the NEC and the minimum expected conditions by the NEC and where no expertise is available internally, seek expert external help.

Davies Ndumiso Sibanda can be contacted on:
email: [email protected] Or cell No: 0772 375 235