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South Africa - Compensation & Benefit Legislation

CAPITAL

Pretoria

 

CLIMATE

Mostly semiarid; subtropical along east coast with sunny days and cool nights.

 

LANGUAGES

11 official languages, including Afrikaans, English, Ndebele, Pedi, Sotho, Swazi, Tsonga, Tswana, Venda, Xhosa, and Zulu.

 

LEGAL SYSTEM

South Africa’s legal system is based on Roman-Dutch law and English common law. South Africa accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations.

 

CURRENCY

South African Rand (1 USD = 11.21400 ZAR as of April 15, 2002).

 

SOUTH AFRICA - COST-OF-LIVING

ERI's Relocation Assessor is a recommended source for cost-of-living data.

 

SOUTH AFRICA - EMBASSY/CONSULATES

U.S. Embassy at Pretoria

877 Pretorius Street

Pretoria, South Africa

P.O. Box 9536

Pretoria, South Africa 0001

Telephone: [27] (12) 342-1048

Fax: [27] (12) 342-2244

http://usembassy.state.gov/pretoria/

 

Embassy of South Africa at Washington D.C.

3051 Massachusetts Avenue N.W.

Washington D.C. 20008

Telephone: (202) 232-4400

Fax: (202) 265-1607

E-mail: safrica@southafrica.net

http://usaembassy.southafrica.net/ 

 

SOUTH AFRICA - HOLIDAYS

 

SOUTH AFRICA – LEAVE

Annual Leave: Minimum 14 days (unpaid) annual leave each year.

 

Maternity Leave: 12 weeks – 45% of paid (paid by unemployment insurance).

 

SOUTH AFRICA - MINIMUM AGE

The law prohibits the employment of a child under 15 years of age. It is a criminal offense to employ a child between 15 and 18 years of age if such employment "places at risk the child's well-being, education, physical or mental health, or spiritual, moral, or social development."

 

(Section 6.d. Acceptable Conditions of Work, South Africa – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)

 

SOUTH AFRICA - MINIMUM REMUNERATION

There is no legally mandated national minimum wage.

 

(Section 6.e. Acceptable Conditions of Work, South Africa – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)

 

SOUTH AFRICA - REMUNERATION

ERI's Geographic and Salary Assessors are recommended sources for international remuneration covering 189 countries.

 

SOUTH AFRICA - REPORT OF HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES (2001, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE)

Section 6 Worker Rights

 

a. The Right of Association

 

The Constitution provides for freedom of association and the right to strike, and these rights are given statutory effect in the Labor Relations Act (LRA). All workers in the private sector are entitled to join a union. Workers in the public sector, with the exception of members of the National Intelligence Agency and the Secret Service, also are entitled to join a union. Members of the National Defense Force are allowed to join a union, but they are prohibited from striking. Union membership in the private sector has continued to decline steadily in recent years as a result of job layoffs and declining formal sector employment, including in industries that have been heavily unionized, such as mining and manufacturing. However, some public sector unions have experienced growth. Total union membership is approximately 3.3 million persons, which constitutes nearly 31 percent of the economically active population.

 

The largest trade union federation, COSATU, is aligned formally with the ANC and the South African Communist Party (SACP). Several ANC members of Parliament and of the Cabinet have a COSATU leadership background, and the premier of Gauteng, the country's richest province, is a former COSATU general secretary. COSATU's largest rival, the Federation of Unions of South Africa (FEDUSA), is a nonpartisan labor federation. A relatively minor labor federation, the National Council of Trade Unions (NACTU), is independent of any political grouping. Some unions do not belong to any federation.

 

The LRA is designed to create an industrial relations regime that is stable and recognizes that basic worker rights need to be protected. The act, which applies to both the public and private sectors, protects workers against unfair dismissal, recognizes their right to form trade unions, provides for the right to strike, and establishes a simple set of procedures that protect striking workers from the threat of dismissal. Essentially, for a strike to proceed, all that is required is that a dispute be referred for conciliation. There is no time limit on conciliation efforts; however, if conciliation fails to resolve the dispute, or lasts more than 30 days, a trade union is entitled to advise an employer of intent to strike so long as it gives 48-hours notice to a private sector employer or 7-days notice to a state employer. Organized labor also has the right to engage in "socioeconomic protest," whereby workers can demonstrate, without fear of losing their jobs, in furtherance of broader social objectives. The

LRA also allows employers to hire replacement labor for striking employees, but only after giving 7 days' notice to the striking trade union. Employers have the right to lock out workers if certain conditions are met. Public sector employees, with the exception of essential services and the three components of the security services, also have the right to strike. Strikes by workers in essential services, such as police and hospital workers, are prohibited. If disputes between workers in essential services and their employers cannot be resolved though collective bargaining or conciliation, they are referred to arbitration.

 

On August 29 and 30, COSATU held a 2-day nationwide general strike to protest the privatization of state-owned enterprises and of municipal services. In December 2000 and January, security guards went on strike for 3 weeks over wages. During the strike, there were incidents of intimidation and threats of violence by striking workers against nonstriking and replacement guards. In January the strike ended after trade unions and employers signed an agreement. On March 5 in Johannesburg, during a 2-week strike by postal workers, police shot at a crowd of post office workers who attacked non-striking workers and injured one person. In Pretoria on the same day, police fired tear gas and injured one person after striking workers attempted to lock the gates to the airport's post office. Other significant strikes resulted from wage disputes including: A 3-week strike of automobile workers in August; a 3-week strike of rubber and tire workers in August and September; and a 1-week strike by dock workers in Durban in December. Strikes were shorter and less disruptive than in previous years.

 

On March 7, the Labor Court overturned a ruling of the Commission of Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) that would have required Volkswagen South Africa to reinstate 1,3000 workers that it fired for illegally striking in 2000.

 

The Government does not restrict union affiliation with regional or international labor organizations. COSATU, FEDUSA, and NACTU are affiliated with the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU).

 

b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

 

The law defines and protects the rights to organize and bargain collectively. The Government does not interfere with union organizing and generally has not interfered in the collective bargaining process. The LRA statutorily provides for "organizational rights," such as trade union access to work sites, deductions for trade union dues, and leave for trade union officials, which strengthens the ability of trade unions to organize workers.

 

Union participation as an equal partner with business and Government in the National Economic Development and Labor Council, a tripartite negotiating forum, ensures a direct voice for labor in the formulation of economic, social, and labor policy.

 

The LRA allows for the establishment of workplace forums that are intended to promote broad-based consultation between management and labor over issues such as work organization, corporate downsizing, and changes in production processes. The forums, in order to receive statutory protection, can be established by trade unions only in businesses with more than 100 employees. Although trade unions in only a few factories reportedly have established workplace forums, the intent of the law is to build wide support within the trade union movement and business for such cooperative workplace relationships.

 

Although labor laws protected farm workers, the COSATU-affiliated South African Agricultural, Plantation and Allied Workers, Union (SAAPAWU), and the NACTU-affiliated National Union of Farmworkers have encountered difficulties trying to organize farm workers, because union organizers are considered trespassers on private property. In addition farmworkers or farm residents who attempted to organize were harassed and evicted. The Ministry of Labor reported that 4.5 percent of the agricultural labor force is unionized. In 2000 the Department of Labor conducted a survey on the prevailing conditions in the agricultural sector, which was ongoing at year's end.

 

To further reduce the adversarial nature of labor relations, the LRA also created a Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (CCMA). The CCMA has resolved successfully many disputes referred to it and remains critical to the emergence of a less confrontational business climate. The CCMA also gradually is beginning to play an interventionist role by becoming involved in disputes before they deteriorate into full-fledged strikes or lockouts. A labor court and a labor appeals court are other important creations of the LRA. The labor court has jurisdiction to resolve disputes that the CCMA is unable to mediate to the satisfaction of both parties. Notwithstanding the existence of the CCMA and specialist courts for labor disputes, the aim of industrial relations is to minimize the need for judicial intervention in labor relations, leaving it to the contending parties to resolve disputes whenever possible. No employee may be fired or discriminated against because of membership in or advocacy of a trad

e union.

 

There are no export processing zones.

 

c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

 

The Constitution prohibits forced or compulsory labor; however, there were reports that smugglers used the country as a transit and destination point for trafficking in persons for prostitution and forced labor.

 

The Constitution prohibits forced and bonded child labor; however, there were reports that children were trafficked, forced into prostitution, or exploited by their parents to earn money for their families. A 1999 survey conducted by Statistics South Africa reported that up to 2,000 children work to pay off outstanding debts to employers or obligations to their landlords.

 

d. Status of Child Labor Practices and Minimum Age for Employment

 

The law prohibits the employment of a child under 15 years of age. It is a criminal offense to employ a child between 15 and 18 years of age if such employment "places at risk the child's well-being, education, physical or mental health, or spiritual, moral, or social development." This policy is enforced effectively in the formal nonagricultural sector and less effectively in other sectors by Department of Labor inspectors, who are required to ensure that all of their inspections address child labor problems. The inspectors attempt to resolve any problems by counseling employers, child workers, and parents, and by cooperating with the Departments of Welfare and Education. The violation of the laws regulating child employment is a criminal offense, punishable by a maximum prison sentence of 3 years. However, criminal prosecution is reserved for "extreme circumstances," and there were no prosecutions by year's end.

 

Many children, especially in the rural areas of the former "homelands" where electricity and running water are rare, are expected to help with household chores and school maintenance. According to a survey conducted by Statistics South Africa in 1999, 45 percent of children between the ages of 5 and 17 worked for 1 hour or more per week in an economic activity, 5 hours or more per week in school labor, or 7 hours or more in household chores. The most common economic activity for children was gathering wood and water for domestic use, which occupied 4.5 million of the 13.4 million children between the ages of 5 and 17 years for 1 hour or more per week. Of the 2 million children who spent at least 1 hour per week in activities for pay, profit, or family economic gain, 59 percent were involved in agriculture and 33 percent in trade. A survey noted that of the 13.4 million children between the ages of 5 and 17, 17.8 percent were engaged in subsistence farming, 5.3 percent in trade, 1.4 percent in commercial agriculture, 0.8 percent in services, 0.4 percent in manufacturing, 0.1 percent in transport, 0.1 percent in informal finance, and 0.05 percent in construction and mining.

 

Child laborers from Zimbabwe and Mozambique work in the country on commercial farms, for the taxi industry, or as domestic servants.

 

Child prostitution is a growing problem in metropolitan areas. NGO's estimate that there are 10,000 children working as prostitutes in Johannesburg and at least 1,000 in Cape Town. Along trucking routes child prostitutes are sought after because of the belief that they are more likely to be disease-free or that, if they are virgins, sex with them cures diseases such as HIV/AIDS. The Government previously had established a task force to develop a plan of action to combat the sexual exploitation of children, and has created training courses for the police force and the judiciary regarding the problem.

 

The Government has stated that it is committed to abolishing child labor through new legislation and improving the enforcement of current child labor laws. The Government has prepared training manuals and conducted a number of courses on enforcing child labor laws. The Child Labor Inter-sectoral Group (CLIG) is composed of representatives of trade unions, employers, organizations, NGO's, and officials of the Departments of Labor, Welfare, and Education. The CLIG debates policy options and ensures coordination of initiatives between these different groups.

 

Following the Government's ratification of International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor in 2000, the Department of Labor began provincial consultations in order to develop and complete a comprehensive program of action to implement the convention. However, no further action was taken by year's end.

 

The Constitution prohibits children under the age of 18 from participating in armed conflict. The minimum age for military recruitment is 17 years.

 

The Constitution prohibits forced or bonded labor; however, there were reports that children were trafficked, forced into prostitution, and that some children work in conditions that amount to bondage.

 

e. Acceptable Conditions of Work

 

There is no legally mandated national minimum wage. Unionized workers in the formal sector of the economy set wage rates on an industry-by-industry or plant-by-plant basis through annual negotiations with employers or employer organizations. Such wages generally are sufficient to provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family. In those sectors in which workers are not organized sufficiently to engage in the collective bargaining process, the law gives the Minister of Labor the authority to set wages, including for farm laborers and domestic workers. However, income disparities between skilled and unskilled workers and the income distribution gap between rural and urban workers mean that many unskilled or rural workers are unable to provide a decent standard of living for themselves and their families.

 

The law standardizes time-and-a-half pay for overtime, establishes a 45-hour workweek, and authorizes 4 months of maternity leave for women. A ministerial determination exempted businesses employing fewer than 10 persons from certain provisions of the act concerning overtime and leave.

 

Occupational health and safety issues are a top priority of trade unions, especially in the mining and heavy manufacturing industries. Although attention to these issues has increased significantly, the country's industrial and mining processes are dangerous and sometimes deadly. The law provides for the right of mine employees to remove themselves from work deemed dangerous to health or safety. Moreover, a tripartite mine health and safety council and an inspectorate of mine health and safety, are tasked with enforcing the act and monitoring compliance with its provisions. The law specifically makes it an offense for a company to discriminate against an employee who asserts a right granted by the law (for example, to leave a hazardous work site) and requires mine owners to file annual reports that provide statistics on health and safety incidents for each mine being worked. On May 8, 12 persons were killed by an explosion in a gold mine.

 

Working conditions on farms were generally poor. There were many incidents of physical abuse of farm workers, non-payment of wages, and other forms of arbitrary treatment. In September the Department of Labor published a report on employment conditions in the agricultural sector which found that "most South African farm workers live in circumstances of absolute and relative poverty" and recommended minimum farm wages ranging from $40 to $75 (400 Rands to 750 Rands), depending on the farm's location. Many farmers do not measure accurately working hours, and they often require their laborers to work 11 hours per day and 6 days per week. In addition 12 hour days were common during harvest time, and few farmers provided overtime benefits. Human Rights Watch reported low wages and the absence of basic services in farmworkers' housing. There were reports that farmers ignored laws relating to health and safety and other labor rights for their workers. Health and safety regulations often were not observed during the use of chemicals in agricultural work.

 

There are no laws or regulations in other industries that permit workers to remove themselves from work situations deemed dangerous to their health or safety without risking loss of employment; however, the law protects employees from retaliation who, with "reasonable belief that the health or safety of an individual has been, is being, or is likely to be endangered," disclose dangerous workplace conditions to the appropriate authorities.

 

f. Trafficking in Persons

 

The law prohibits trafficking in persons; however, the country is a transit and destination point for the trafficking of persons from other countries in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union for prostitution and forced labor. Women and children are trafficked into the country by domestic and international organized crime syndicates for the sex industry.

 

The country does not have legislation that specifically prohibits the trafficking of persons; however, there are other laws that can be applied to prosecute offenses related to trafficking, including laws dealing with illegal aliens, employment, occupational health and safety, sexual offenses, domestic violence, and organized crime.

 

Trafficking is not a focus for the Government, and few government resources have been allocated to combat trafficking. There is no plan or program in place to assist trafficking victims. There has not been any specialized training for dealing with trafficking victims. However, during the year, the border police included protection of women and children from trafficking in its strategic plan.

 

There were no reported government anti-trafficking public awareness campaigns or other programs to prevent trafficking. The NGO Molo Songololo is the only NGO that has worked with the Government to address trafficking, and the cooperation has been limited to interviews with government officials for the Molo Songololo study on trafficking. Molo Songololo has raised some awareness with the publication of its study and through programs in Western Cape schools.

 

SOUTH AFRICA - SOCIAL SECURITY

Social Security Office of International Programs:

 

http://www.ssa.gov/SSA_Home.html

 

SOUTH AFRICA - STANDARD WORKWEEK

The standard workweek is 45 hours and time-and-a-half is paid for overtime.

 

(Section 6.e. Acceptable Conditions of Work, South Africa – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)