| 7.1 | Every employer must regulate the working time of each employee: |
| (a) | in accordance with the provisions of any Act governing occupational health and safety; |
| (b) | with due regard to the health and safety of employees; |
| (c) | with due regard to the Code of Good Practice on the Regulation of Working Time issued under section 87(1)(a) of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act; |
| (d) | with due regard to the family responsibilities of employees. |
| 7.2 | Interpretation of day: |
For the purpose of this clause "day" means a period of 24 hours measured from the time when the employee normally commences work.
| 7.3 | Ordinary hours of work: |
| (a) | subject to this clause an employer may not require or permit an employee to work more than: |
| (i) | 45 hours in any week; and |
| (ii) | nine hours in any day if the employee works for five days or fewer in a week; or |
| (iii) | eight hours in any day if the employee works on more than five days in a week; |
| (b) | an employee' s ordinary hours of work in terms of paragraph (a)(i) may by agreement be extended up to 15 minutes in a day but not more than 60 minutes in a week to enable an employee whose duties include serving members of the public to continue performing those duties after the completion of ordinary hours of work. |
An employer shall not require or permit an employee to work continuously for more than five hours without a meal interval, during which meal interval the employee shall not be required or permitted to perform any work, and which shall not form part of the ordinary or overtime hours worked: Provided that:
| (a) | The period of the meal interval may be reduced to not less than half an hour, subject to agreement between the employer and the employee; |
| (b) | If a meal interval is longer than one hour, any period in excess of three hours shall be deemed to be time worked, except when the proviso set out in (e) hereafter, applies; |
| (c) | Only two meal intervals (taken during the ordinary hours of work of any Employee on any day) shall not form part of the ordinary hours of work; |
| (d) | When an employer is required to give an employee a further meal interval on any day, by reason of overtime worked on that day, such meal interval may be reduced to not less than fifteen minutes; |
| (e) | If the meal interval(s) is longer than three hours in the case of an employee wholly or mainly engaged in cleaning, any period of such meal interval(s) which is in excess of three hours, shall be deemed to form part of the ordinary hours of work |
| (a) | subject to this clause an employer may not require or permit an employee: |
| (i) | to work overtime except in accordance with an agreement; |
| (ii) | to work more than three hours overtime a day; or |
| (iii) | ten hours overtime a week. |
| (b) | an employer must pay an employee at least one and a half times the employee's wage for overtime worked in accordance with the provisions of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act as amended from time to time. |
| 7.6 | Compressed working week: |
| (a) | an agreement in writing may require or permit an employee to work up to twelve hours in a day, inclusive of the meal intervals required in terms of clause 7.4 without receiving overtime pay. |
| (b) | an agreement in terms of paragraph (a) may not require or permit an employee to work: |
| (i) | more than 45 hours in any week; |
| (ii) | more than ten hours overtime in any week; or |
| (iii) | on more than five days in any week. |
| 7.7 | Averaging of hours of work: |
| (a) | despite clauses 7.3 and 7.5, the ordinary hours of work and overtime of an employee may be averaged over a period of up to four months |
| (b) | an employer may not require or permit an employee who is bound by a collective agreement in terms of sub clause (a) above to work more than: |
| (i) | an average of 45 ordinary hours of work in a week over the agreed period; |
| (ii) | an average of five hours overtime in the agreed period. |
| 7.8 | Daily or weekly rest period: |
| (a) | an employer must allow an employee: |
| (i) | a daily rest period of at least twelve consecutive hours between ending and recommencing work; and |
| (ii) | a weekly rest period of at least 36 consecutive hours which need not necessarily include Sunday. |
| (b) | a daily rest period in terms of subclause (a)(i) may be reduced to ten hours for an employee: |
| (i) | who lives on the premises at which the workplace/contract is situated; and |
| (ii) | whose meal interval lasts for at least three hours. |
| (c) | despite subclause (a)(ii): |
| (i) | a rest period of at least 60 consecutive hours every two weeks; or |
| (ii) | an employee's weekly rest period may be reduced by up to eight hours in any week if the rest period in the following week is extended equivalently. |
