Rights of an employee under the Employment Act

| Thursday July 26, 2012 00:00

An employee is entitled to receive the agreed wage for the work done.  As is standard practice in the labour market, an employee is paid in arrears, that is after the completion of his duties. The wages are paid out within a prescribed period (weekly, fortnightly or monthly) and only casual labourers are entitled to be paid on a daily basis. The agreed wage is to be paid out without any deduction save for those prescribed in law such as tax. Other deductions require the consent of the employee such as contribution to pension fund, medical aid scheme (of your choice), social clubs loan deductions etc. The Act further provides other logistics for paying wages, the manner, form, time frame and place.

The employer is obliged to provide a safe working condition for his employees regardless of the nature of the occupation. There are however some industries or professions which are riskier than others and in those instances it is the employer's duty to ensure that his/her employees have received all the necessary working equipment to minimise risks of injury whilst at work. As such the working conditions ought to comply to the standards set out in the regulations; alternatively industry practice.Employees are entitled to work within the prescribed hours.

The Employment Act provides that an employee shall not work for more than five (consecutive) hours without rest period, which rest period should not be less than 30 minutes, alternatively more than eight hours per day or 40 per week. This provision however excludes employees whom the nature of their work may require them to work continuously for a period exceeding eight hours per day, in which case the said employee would be entitled to a rest break of not less than 45 minutes. Further excluded from this provision are employees who work five days a week, the Act provides that in such circumstances, the working period may be increased to nine hours per day with a rest a period of not less than one hour so as to provide the employees an opportunity to have a meal.The employer however retains the right to request the employee to work beyond the stated working hours should the circumstances to do so arise, which request the employee cannot refuse without reasonable cause.

Every employee is entitled to annual leave days, the number of which may be agreed upon by the parties to the contract. The Act provides a minimum number being 15 days per annum which is the minimum number of days an employee can be given. These leave days are over and above the paid public holidays which may be prescribed from time-to-time by the Minister. The leave is granted to the employee at the convenience of the employer, that is to say at the time when such leave will least disrupt the business of the employee. Therefore if you work for an organisation that has peak business periods, it is unlikely that an employee's leave will be approved as opposed to an off peak season. Most organisations have what they call leave plan, which enables the employer to plan around the employee's absence and control the workflow.

Last but not least is the employee's right to other type of leave days which include but are not limited to confinement/maternity leave; sick leave and compassionate leave. In terms of the Employment Act, an employee is entitled to at least 14 sick leave days per annum, for which the employer will be obliged to pay him for. The employee on the other hand is obliged to submit satisfactory proof that he was unfit to report for duty on the days claimed which can be a certificate signed by a medical officer.  The said certificate can be delivered to the employer whilst on sick leave or when reporting for duty. In the event that your illness if for a prolonged period of time, the employer may request a medical report from a doctor appointed by the employer and at the employer's expense attesting to the employee's ill health, on the basis of which other long term remedies such as redeployment can be put in place.All female employees are entitled, when the time to do so arises, to confinement or maternity leave for a period of six (6) weeks. During that period the female employee is entitled to a minimum maternity allowance of 25 percent of her monthly basic wage.

Over and above this the employee is entitled to compassionate leave which is leave basically to attend to family emergencies such as funerals. This leave is granted at the discretion of the employer and is restricted to the proximity of relations of the person in issue and the employee. As such the number of days off given to attend to a parent's funeral arrangement will not be similar to that given in the instance of a sibling or aunt. In reality however this is one of the most commonly abused forms of time off by employees.Please forward your comments to labourissuescorner@gmail.com.