The 5 Most Costly Labour Mistakes… And How

To Avoid ThemThis FREE presentation shows you exactly how you can Say “You're Fired”...and Make it

Stick!

It's urgent that you watch this entire presentation...RIGHT NOW.

You’ll see why...

Hi, my name's Rachel Paterson. I'm the Business Publisher at Fleet Street Publications.

Today, I’m going to reveal...

How just 1 day's absence could be costing you 3 days' salary

When you don’t have to pay for leave

How you can make your employment contracts work for you 100% of the time

When you don't have to pay for overtime

And...how to safely say “You're fired!” and make it stick

As you know, labour legislation is one of the biggest challenges facing you and your business.

The Legislation is vague and it's always changing!

You have to quickly adapt your polices and change the way you do things to comply.

It's for exactly these reasons that we developed the Labour Law for Managers Loose Leaf service.

It's a hands-on guide to labour law. And it's written in layman's terms to help you protect your business and stay on the right side of the law.

Simply follow the step-by-step instructions and sample forms.

That way you'll always be sure you're doing things 100% correctly.

Take Mr Pelzer of Service Master Cape for example. He had this to say about the Labour Law for Managers:

“The Labour Law for Managers is definitely the best material we have used at our pottery factory in Nigel. We started a pottery business and we worked on the information in this book.

When the Department of Labour visited we passed with flying colours because we had every detail in place. Thank you again for this information.”

We have over 25 professional legal experts who serve on our specialist panel of writers.

These experts include Senior commissioners from the CCMA and even acting Judges at the Labour court!

I'll tell you a bit more about them in a few minutes...but first...

1 day’s absence can cost you 3 days’ salary?

In a recent survey it was estimated that SA business loses around R12 billion a year because of absenteeism.

R2.2 billion is attributed to HIV/Aids.

But the survey also indicated that the cost of this absenteeism isn't limited to the employee's salary for that day...

it can actually add up to 3 times that when you factor in the hidden costs such as hiring a temp and so on!

Have you calculated the actual cost when your employee's off work?

How to reduce absenteeism in 2 steps.

First: you need to understand why employees stay away from work

Then: You need a strategy to combat the problem.

If you want to manage the problem of absenteeism effectively, you should...

Try to identify and deal with the causes.

Dealing with the causes is usually more cost effective than merely tackling the symptoms.

Here are some of the things that cause absenteeism and how I can help you solve them.

4 methods to deal with absenteeism

Cause 1: lack of clear standards and policies for absenteeism.

What should you do about this?

Solution: Set standards that tell employees how much you’ll tolerate absenteeism and when you’ll start investigating people.

Publish regular lists of the rate of absenteeism in your business per department or division with an indication of what this is costing the business.

Cause 2: Boredom on the job or lack of job satisfaction.

Solution: Conduct regular reviews with your staff to gauge their level of job satisfaction.

If you pick up problems then take steps.

Discuss it with the employee, and find solutions.

Cause 3: Transport problems.

Solution: You can investigate with the employee what alternative transport arrangements can be made,

so he can get to work on time and isn’t tempted to stay away from work when he experiences transport difficulties.

Cause 4: Inadequate leadership and poor supervision by management

Solution: Make sure your managers and supervisors know it’s part of their job to manage absenteeism levels.

Write this into their job descriptions and make it a performance criteria on which they are reviewed.

These are only 4 methods that you can use.

In the Absenteeism chapter of the Labour Law for Managers Loose leaf, we give you another 5 methods to reduce absenteeism.

I'll tell you more about how you can get them in just a minute...

A lot of our subscribers ask if they have to always pay for sick leave.

You only have to pay for sick leave if you get a valid medical certificate that proves your employee was too sick to be at work.

10 items of information that MUST appear on a valid medical certificate:

1. The name, address and qualifications of the medical practitioner and the practice number

2. The employment number of the patient, or another form of clear identification of the patient as your employee.

3. The date and time of the examination

4. Whether the certificate is issued after the doctor has personally examined the patient.

5. An indication that the doctor is satisfied the employee was too sick or injured to return to work for the whole period of absence.

6. Whether the patient is totally unable to work or whether he would be able to perform less strenuous duties

7. The exact period of recommended sick leave

8. The date of issue of the certificate

9. A clear identification of the doctor who issued the certificate

10. Is the certificate legible? It should be!

Notify your staff that you won’t accept medical certificates in the future unless they include this information.

This checklist is one of the 62 checklists included in the Labour law for Managers Loose leaf service.

If your method to reduce the absenteeism hasn’t worked –

Can you dismiss?

In the Labour Law for Managers you’ll find out exactly how to discipline for 12 different categories of offences and how to dismiss by the book.

You can use all the checklists and dismissal processes free for 14 days...

Plus you can send us a simple labour query and get our experts advice direct to your inbox.

Here's some advice our panel of experts gave about leave to our subscribers

Our subscriber asked...

I run a small operation and can’t afford to pay employees who take sick leave consistently.

When do I not have to pay sick leave?

An employee is entitled to 30 days’ paid sick leave if he works five days a week, and 36 days’ paid sick leave if he works six days a week, per 3-year cycle.

You don’t have to pay an employee for sick leave if he’s exceeded his quota or if the period of absence is longer than two consecutive days.

Or if he's been absent on more than two occasions during an eight-week period, unless he gives you a valid medical certificate from a registered medical practitioner.

The next question dealt with how to tackle sick leave abuse

Question: I have an employee that takes two days’ sick leave every month on various days of the week.

She produces a doctor’s note, but we’d like to know if there is anything we can do to break this trend.

Answer: You would need to investigate whether the employee is in fact ill.

If she isn’t and the doctor’s notes are forged or fraudulent, you can take disciplinary action.

You could ask her to submit herself to a medical examination by a company doctor or doctor of your choice. This often acts as a deterrent for future ‘illness’.

You must also warn your employee this is now becoming a habitual problem, which could lead to disciplinary action or, if it is affecting your business requirements, an incapacity process.

Question: When must you deduct public holidays from annual leave?

When calculating employees' leave allowance this subscriber noticed Christmas Day and New Year's Day fell on a Saturday.

His employees work a five-day week and are entitled to 20 working days’ leave.

Does he add the two extra days to their leave entitlement or do they lose out, as these public holidays fall on a weekend?

Answer: If your staff work a five-day week and receive 20 working days, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day wouldn’t affect their leave entitlement.

The only time it would affect their leave is if the public holiday fell on a working day (Monday-Friday). In this case you wouldn’t deduct this day from their entitlement.

What about Family responsibility leave...

Question: According to the BCEA family responsibility leave covers a child's illness. Is there any rule about how old the child must be?

Can I grant family responsibility leave to a parent to take her child, who is over 21, to the hospital?

Answer: The BCEA defines a “child” as a person under 18.

So, you don’t have to grant family responsibility leave if a child over 18 is sick.

In the Labour Law for Managers we also answer questions like...

• If your company closes over Christmas can you make it mandatory to take leave over that period?

• Who pays for sick leave when an employee is injured on the job?

• Do employees lose their accumulated annual leave when they go on maternity leave?

• What annual leave can you grant to part-time employees?

• How much sick leave are employees entitled to in their first six months of employment?

• Must you accept medical certificates from traditional healers?

• Are males entitled to paternity leave when their children are born?

• Can an employee carry over family responsibility to the next leave cycle?

• When must an employee on maternity leave return to work?

• Is an employee entitled to maternity leave if she has a miscarriage?

With the Labour Law for Managers loose leaf service you can use our Labour Helpdesk at any time.

You simply email us your question and our panel of experts will email you back.

Make sure your employment contracts work to your

advantage

You must give your employees, in writing, the terms and conditions of their employment.

This document can take the form of a letter of appointment, or you can create a more formal contract of employment.

The format doesn’t matter it’s the content that’s important!

Get your employee to sign the document as this will avoid disputes about whether or not it was given and what it contains.

Give your employee the document when he starts employment and keep the document for at least three years after the employment relationship terminates.

Remember, you must also update this employment document and provide the employee with a new copy when...

• The law changes

• You and your employee agree to changes in the terms and conditions

• You increase the employee’s pay or benefits (this you could do in a supplementary letter).

TIP:Better late than never! If you haven't got these in order, it's not too late!

Check all your personnel records and draw up the employment documents now.

Even if your employees have been working for you for years!

Even part-time staff must have a contract!

This law applies to you if your employees are temporary or part-time.

And even if they...

• Have a fixed employment period• Only work one day a week• Only work every weekend• Only work half day.

Anyone who qualifies as an employee should receive thisdocument from you.

3 easy steps to protect yourself from legal comebacks

The South African labour laws offer your employees protection, but they also allow you a degree of flexibility in what you agree with your employee.

Be proactive and protect yourself!

Take these three steps today...

1. Design an employment agreement (whether it’s in the form of a contract or a letter) that complies with the law, but fits with your business requirements.

2. Make it a requirement for the selected job applicant to sign the contract BEFORE commencing employment

3. Explain (with the aid of an interpreter if necessary) the contents of the contract to the employee/ applicant in a language he understands.

Remember: this is required by law.

To make it easier for you, you'll find these 4 sample contracts in the Labour Law for Managers Loose leaf:

1. A contract of permanent employment2. A fixed-term contract3. A contractor agreement 4. A contract for an ‘occasional worker’

There are 17 vital elements that must be communicated in the employment contract.

And you can protect yourself further by including another 9 vital points in your contracts...

The Labour Law for Managers Loose leaf tells you exactly what they are.

What information will you find in the Labour Law for Managers?

Here are just SOME of the topics and issues:

• The A-Z of disciplinary hearings: investigation, notification, preparation, suspension, evidence, legal representation and more

• How to deal with probation effectively and legally

• All your questions answered about leave

• How to reduce absenteeism and deal with deserters

• 17 clauses you must have in your employment contracts

• How to implement a disciplinary process that increases performance and not litigation.

• Sample warnings, codes of conduct, levels of offence, types of discipline, sample policies and more

• Step-by-step instructions on how to conduct yourself at conciliation and arbitration to emerge successful

• What your rights are as a manager with regard to employee privacy

• What you can and can’t ask in an interview

• The legal dos and don’ts when advertising for a position

• Designing a recruitment and selection policy

• How to carry out a legal retrenchment so you don’t end up spending lots of time and money defending your case in court (and perhaps ending up worse off despite the savings you achieved by reducing staff)

• Your 6-step employment equity plan

• A simple guide to completing your employment equity report

• What to do when a grievance is reported

• How to deal with trade unions

• How to prevent and prepare for strikes, as well as deal with strike misconduct

• Bargaining council, CCMA, SETA and Department of Labour contact details

And so much more!

Thousands of companies subscribe to the Labour Law for Managers loose leaf service.

Dimension DataErnst & YoungEskomKPMGLaw Society of South AfricaLegal Aid BoardLegal wiseNampakNashuaOld MutualPick n’ PaySevices SetaTelkomUniversity of WitwatersrandUniversity of Cape TownUniversity of JohannesburgUniversity of Kwazulu Natal

How to make the law work for you when it comes to

overtime

Are you aware of little tricks regarding overtime that can make a big difference to your bottom line?

This is your chance to use the law to your advantage...

You don’t always have to pay for overtime so why incur the expense?

You don’t have to pay all employees overtime. Even if they’re required to and do work overtime.

You don’t have to pay overtime to the following categories of employees:

1. Senior managerial employees

2. Sales staff who travel to the premises of customers and who regulate their own hours of work

3. Employees who work less than 24 hours a month for you

4. Employees who earn more than R149 736 per year

Warning! Despite what the BCEA says, if you’ve agreed in your employment contract to pay overtime, you’re bound by your agreement!

Be careful of saying that overtime will be paid, because if an employee receives salary increases he ends up earning more than R149 736 per year.

TIPWrite the following clause into your employment contracts:

“Currently employees who earn less than R149 736 per year must be paid for overtime worked...

If at any stage during your employment your remuneration is increased so that you fall outside this threshold, you will no longer be paid for overtime worked, although you will still be obliged to work overtime as and when required.”

Take advantage of the flexibility that the BCEA allows!

You can agree with your employee to give her time off in lieu of payment for overtime that she’s worked.

To take advantage of this option you need to provide for it in your employment contracts.

TIPWrite the following clause into your employment contracts:

“You agree that, at our discretion, you may be granted time off in lieu of payment for overtime worked.

Time off will be granted as agreed with your supervisor/manager but within (up to 12) months of your becoming entitled to the time off.”

How much overtime must you pay?

You must pay your employee (who is entitled to be paid for overtime) at least one and a half times his wage for the overtime worked.

If the overtime is on a Sunday, you must pay double his normal wage for each hour worked UNLESS Sunday is an ordinary day for him. In this case you must pay him at least one and a half times his wage for each hour worked.

In the Labour Law for Managers Loose leaf you’ll also find out:

• The maximum amount of overtime an employee may work

• When night work is allowed; and

• How to pay employees who work on public holidays

8 reasons why you should order the Labour Law for Managers today and take advantage of our free 14-day trial period

1. We’ll keep you informed and 100% up-to-date with labour law.

The Labour Law for Managers Loose leaf is constantly monitored and updated.

You’ll receive updates on a regular basis when any labour laws change or important judgements are handed down by the courts.

Our experts will give you simple and practical interpretations of any new legislation and cases so you know what the changes mean for you.

We’ll also cover any new topics and issues that have never been discussed before.

Thanks to the Loose leaf you’ll never be surprised by any amendment and you’ll stay on the cutting edge of labour!

2. You can rely on the opinions and tips given by our 28 labour experts

Who better to advise you than attorneys, advocates and consultants who have decades of experience helping employers from a multitude of industries?

Our authors are top class labour experts who have spent days and months at the CCMA and in the labour courts – some as Commissioners and Judges!

What’s more, each piece of information is verified by TWO independent consultants so you can rely 100% on the quality of advice given.

3. If you have any labour questions you can always email our experts –for FREE!

I mentioned our Labour Helpdesk earlier. As a paid-up subscriber, you can email basic queries to our panel of experts, and receive an answer within 72 hours.

This service alone can save you thousands in lawyer’s fees.

And you get it free with your subscription.

4. Our sample contracts, letters, policies and forms will save you time and money

With the handbook you get:

contracts of employment, a warning letter, a dismissal letter, a contractor agreement,

an absenteeism and desertion policy, a disciplinary policy, a sample notification of a

disciplinary hearing, a substance abuse policy, an HIV/AIDS policy,

EE documents, retrenchment letters, a disability audit, a grievance form, an Internet and email user policy and trade union agreements.

5. Practical tools and simple guidelines make applying labour laws in your company fast and easy

All the information is clear and easy-to-follow.

• Step-by-step instructions take you through every stage of compulsory legal procedures

• Checklists make sure you haven’t forgotten anything

• Real life examples give you a clear picture of what to do in particular scenarios you encounter on a daily basis

6. Stay on top of important deadlines with our FREE email newsletter

You’ll receive the daily Labour Bulletin as part of your subscription to update you on important labour dates and events.

You can also read other subscribers’ questions answered by our panel of experts.

7. You'll get a gift that's yours to keep… a brilliant little booklet called Say “You’re fired!” And Make It Stick!

Act quickly to automatically receive this free booklet worth R99...

In this groundbreaking publication you’ll find:

•sample letters of notice; •why you shouldn’t insert long notice periods into employment contracts,

•the legal ways to dismiss an employee, •bargaining council contact numbers; •and much more.

Order your copy of the Labour Law for Managers Looseleaf service for a 14-day trial period and check for yourself how useful it is...

After these 14 days you can continue to use it by simply paying the invoice sent with the handbook. Or, return it to us and we’ll destroy the bill.

80% of the disputes referred to the CCMA relate to unfair

dismissal!

If you have to dismiss an employee you need to make sure you do it fairly so you won’t be taken to the CCMA or, if you are, you have a reasonable chance of defending your decision.

To avoid this ask these 2 key questions before disciplining:

1. Has the employee disobeyed a company standard, rule, instruction, code or policy that was communicated to him or that he should have known about?

2. Did the employee know/should have known that his conduct or behaviour was wrong/unacceptable?

When you take disciplinary action you must make sure it’s:

• appropriate in relation to how serious the misconduct is; and

• consistent with how you have treated similar misconduct in the past.

Many cases are lost at the CCMA because of the way the employer has formulated the allegations

It’s very important to accurately describe what you say your employee has done wrong.

You must also do it in a way that the employee will understand – he needs to know exactly what he is supposed to have done wrong otherwise he can’t prepare a defence.

How should you do it?

Here are 2 tips...

TIPDon’t get lost by trying to find a technical name or description for what the employee has done wrong.

You might just pick the wrong technical term (such as fraud) and then lose the case because you don’t prove the employee was guilty of that offence, even though he might have been guilty of another form of dishonesty.

TIPRather describe in simple straightforward words what you say your employee has done.

For example...

It’s alleged that you failed to come to work for five days from 5 to 10 November without asking permission from your manager to be absent and without handing in a doctor’s certificate to show that you were too sick to come to work.

Don’t just say: unauthorised absence from work – this doesn’t tell the employee exactly what you are referring to and doesn’t allow him a proper chance to prepare his defence.

Four things to do if you dismiss the employee:

1. Make it clear whether you’re applying a summary dismissal or dismissing on notice.

2. Ensure the payroll department has this information and processes the dismissal with the required pay to the dismissed employee, i.e. payment up to the date of dismissal and accrued leave pay.

3. Make sure retirement fund withdrawals are processed in accordance with the reason for the dismissal.

If the employee owes money to the company, payroll should check whether this can be deducted from monies owing to the employee

4. Give the employee a certificate of service.

The discipline and dismissal section in the Labour Law for Managers includes...

• A sample of a written warning• A sample disciplinary policy• A sample code of conduct• 4 more checklists

Plus information on...

• How to issue warnings• How to avoid the most common mistakes that lead to unfair dismissal

• Appropriate sanctions for different types of offences

• Different ways to discipline your employees

• 6 key elements of an effective and legally complainant disciplinary hearing

• The latest on legal representation at hearings

• How to prepare for a hearing

• 9 steps of a procedurally correct hearing

And you don't want to miss two chapters on the CCMA, where we show you how to succeed at conciliation and arbitration.

Order your copy of the Labour law for Managers for a free 14-day trial period NOW and get all the practical tools to pre-empt a labour crises at your fingertips!

You’ll benefit from:

500 pages of simple, easy-to-use advice that will save you heaps of money and hours of frustration

The expertise of 28 top South Africa lawyers and consultants

a FREE daily email newsletter alerting you to important labour deadlines and events

a FREE copy of the book “Say ‘You’re Fired!” and make it stick” worth R99

a 14-day trial period to use all the expert advice without paying a cent

regular updates to ensure you’re one step ahead of labour legislation (which are priced at R1.97 per page)

a Labour helpdesk to answer your labour questions by email

online access to an archive of all labour topics.

How to combat email/Internet abuse

Your communication systems are central to the effectiveness of your business, but the use of the Internet has become a huge problem, with many employees abusing this business tool.

This could cost you thousands of rands in lost working time!

This abuse can also damage your systems.

Because of the legal protection of an employee’s right to privacy and the provisions of the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-related Information Act, 70 of 2002 (RICA),

you need to tread very warily when you try to manage use of your e-communications system.

There are actions you can take, which we cover in the chapter on privacy, to monitor your employees’ use of email and the Internet.

Here’s how you can get around the privacy laws...

Step #1: Get written consent from your employees to monitor all communications including e-mails and use of the Internet.

Then you can gather the facts to prove who is abusing the system.

Step #2: If you can’t get express consent (for example, in an employment contract) then you must implement a communications policy that informs employees in writing that their e-mail may be monitored.

Checklist: Make these 3 things clear in your communications policy:

1. You provide the e-mail system for business use.

2. State that limited private use is allowed; but make it clear that things like pornographic or other offensive images or, for example, attachments above a certain size, will not be allowed.

3. Tell employees that their e-mail may be monitored and they can’t rely on the argument that there has been a breach of privacy.

We’ll make sure you’re aware of the current privacy laws and updated on the new Protection of Personal Information Act when it comes into effect...including:

• What sample clauses to include in your employment contracts

• How to draw up your new communications policy

• What you must prove to monitor your employees’ communication

• What you can legally do to protect your business interests

10 essential steps to dismiss for poor performance

Here’s your chance to contribute to your company’s bottom line

You can’t afford to have employees whose performance isn’t up to scratch.

Poor performers can cost your business a packet, not just because of the poor service they render and the mistakes they make, but because it inevitably takes up a significant portion of your management time to deal with them.

Your bottom 20% performers take up about 80% of your time.

Find out how to deal effectively with poor performers so that if they have what it takes you get them to the point where they can make a valuablecontribution to the business.

If you have to fire them, don’t do it wrong and land up in the CCMA on the losing end.

10 things you must do before you dismiss an employee for not performing

1. Set performance standards.2. Communicate those performance standards to your employee/s.

3. Evaluate your employee’s performance

4. Make sure you have given sufficient instruction on the tasks you require him to do and how you want them done.

5. Provide the training the employee needs to perform.

6. Provide guidance along the way on how to meet the standard, as the employee seeks to improve.

7. Counsel your employee on his poor performance.

8. Give your employee a fair opportunity to meet the required performance standard.

9. Only consider dismissal if you have exhausted reasonable ways of getting the employee to improve to the required standard.

10.Give your employee an opportunity to make representations before youdismiss.

We’ll show you how to manage performance proactively in the Labour Law for Managers Loose leaf plus...

• Find out how you may and may not treat probationary employees

• And what to do if performance slides after probation expires

• 6 questions that must be answered at a poor performance hearing.

Order your copy of the Labour Law for Managers today to review free for 14 days!

25 000 copies sold!

You pay nothing upfront. Just let me know where to send it, and we’ll rush it to your address. Take 14 days to use the handbook.

You’ll receive:• Invaluable advice about how to avoid costly labour fees and protect your rights as a manager

• Legally-sound tips, recommendations and information, checked by 2 independent consultants

• 500 pages of practical information with every section containing:– Hands-on labour advice in plain English with no legalese– Step-by-step instructions– Checklists to make sure you haven’t forgotten anything

– Templates and sample forms to complete all your documentation 100% correctly– Many easily understandable examples

• Confidence that your handbook is always up-to-date:

We’ll send you regular updates, priced at R1.97 per page, covering changes in law, the latest judgements and new issues (each update is approximately 100 pages).

• Unlimited permission to copy all sample forms and contracts as long as you have purchased the handbook.

Plus you'll get 3 additional free services for subscribers:

1. A Labour Helpdesk available to all paid up subscribers, where we answer your quick labour questions by email

2. An information archive where you can access all our past articles online

3. A daily email newsletter, the Labour Bulletin, which will keep you up to date on any labour changes and informed of any deadline dates and important labour information.

Plus an extra FREE gift if you order now.

When you order the Labour Law for Managers Loose leaf you’ll receive Say “You’re fired!” and Make it Stick worth R99

a groundbreaking booklet on the dos and don’ts of dismissing an employee.

Our Guarantee to youWe firmly believe the Labour Law for Managers loose leaf service will more then repay the cost.If you aren’t satisfied for any reason simply return it to is within 14 days and we’ll destroy the bill.

Order your copy of the Labour Law for Managers Loose leaf

NOW !Visit

www.labourlawhandbook.co.za