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2008 has for everyone been a very hard working year and we
approached the festive season with a feeling that a good rest
would be appreciated. We have not faced such an uncertain time
in many years, with western powers facing real recession and
South Africa looking forward to elections early next year. We
are destined to live in interesting times. Optimistically we are
hoping that the recession will touch us mildly, however the real
danger lies in our listening too much to the media and talking
ourselves into a real recession.
SKILLS DEVELOPMENT
Most SETA's have released their guidelines for the payment of
discretionary grants and if you would be interested in finding
out more and have not been contacted by us, please contact Jane
Alevizos.
The amendment to the Skills Development Act was passed on the
1st December 2008 after having been through an exhaustive
process since early February this year. The amendments are quite
comprehensive and although some of the amendments are to merely
clarify terminology and perhaps give more authority to the Act,
other amendments set up new structures. The main amendments are:
-
to
define certain expressions;
-
to
broaden the purpose of the Act
-
to
provide anew for the functions of the National Skills Authority
-
to
provide anew for the composition of the National Skills
Authority
-
to
provide anew for the function of the SETA's
-
to
provide for apprenticeships as a qualification towards becoming
an artisan
-
to
make further provision in respect of the implementation of
employment services for learners
-
to
increase the quality and quantity of artisans by enforcing
proper trade testing
-
to
provide for Skills Development Institutes (Legally recognized
skills development advisors and trainers)
-
to
provide for the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (in
order to ensure quality of the training and assessment
procedures
-
to
clarify the legal status of Productivity South Africa
-
to
clarify the legal and governance status of the National Skills
Fund
It would seem from the above that the revised act focuses on
apprenticeship training and defines it differently from other
types of learnership. Apprenticeships are still a form of
learnership, but are going to be regulated by the Department of
Labour rather than just by the SETA's. The clarification of the
legal status of Productivity South Africa is also interesting
and seemingly places this body under the auspices of the
Department of Labour as well.
We hope that the provision to skills development institutes
means that the accreditation of training providers now falls
under the Department of Labour and not the SETA's as this will
hopefully also provide for more clarity. Jane and Desrae will be
explaining the provisions of the amendment at Employment Equity
Meetings early next year.
CHANGES IN EMPLOYMENT EQUITY LAW
There has been a proposed amendment to the Employment Equity Act
which will require comment by 31 January 2009.
The main proposed changes appear to be removing the requirement
to report on Job Categories and to focus on Job Levels. They
also have amended the reporting so that the earnings of Foreign
Nationals are reported.
We are intending to provide comment as we feel that the
reporting in its present format does not provide sufficient
information and is not particularly useful in achieving the aims
of the act. Anyone who would be interested in being part of this
process is welcome to join us for a workshop to be held from
09h00 on Friday 23rd January 2009. We will also be commenting at
this workshop on the amendments to the Skills Development Act
and its impact on us as companies.
If you wish to attend, please contact Penny at our offices
before Friday 16th January 2009 to enable us to determine
catering requirements.
TRAINING
We will be starting a new Leadership Development Training
Courses next month as well as public courses for our Life Skills
Training. Anyone who would be interested in attending or having
staff attend should contact Debbie at our offices.
The Leadership Development Training course runs for 1 day per
month for 10 months and is aimed at line managers. Content of
the course includes Performance Management, Strategic Planning,
Team Building, Coaching and Industrial Relations.
Life Skills training is aimed at all staff and covers goal
setting, career development and financial management.
Information on these courses is available on our website at
www.connold.co.za
BBBEE
We are hopeful that accredited rating agencies will be announced
in January 2009. We are noting an increased pressure for our
clients to be BEE accredited. The Department of Trade and
Industry has launched a national Data Base for Companies who
have been formally rated. They have also launched a rating
system on their website which allows Companies to do a self
rating for a cost of R285-00. This rating, once approved by an
accredited rating agency, will be included in the DTI data base.
In the absence of accredited rating agencies we suggest that you
use one of the rating agencies which belong to the Association
of BBBEE Verification Agencies (ABVA). A list is available on
www.abva.co.za
INCREASE IN SALARY OF DOMESTIC WORKERS
The minimum salaries of domestic workers has been substantially
revised and the new minimum rate for urban (Rate A) areas is
R6.88 for domestic workers who work between 27 and 45 hours per
week and R8.12 for those working less than 27 hours per week.
This is effectively a 17% increase on the previous minimum wage.
In addition employers have been instructed that they must
increase their domestic workers salaries by 12,2% (CPIX +2%).
The Department of Labour has a very useful guide on the payment
of Domestic workers on their website (www.labour.gov.za)
Wishing you a very happy holiday and a great 2009.
Desrae Connold |
