Court orders 144 DIS officers entitled to shift allowance

Justice Zein Kebonang delivered the judgment on Friday in favour of Mohlouoa Motseko and 143 officers against the Attorney General after concluding that the officers had made a clear case and were legally entitled to the shift allowance.

The officers had claimed that they work shifts longer than eight hours and are entitled to a shift allowance in terms of Regulation 9 Rule 5 of the 2011 Public Service Regulations. The government disagreed, saying they already received a commuted overtime allowance and could not be paid both. Kebonang disagreed with the government’s argument and ruled in favour of the officers. “The respondent is in violation of Regulation 9(5) of the Public Service Regulations,” Justice Kebonang stated. He explained that the regulation is clear, as it says that officers who work shifts longer than eight hours “shall be entitled to be paid an inconvenience allowance commonly known as ‘shift allowance’”.