Labour Relations Act, 1995 (Act No. 66 of 1995)

Notices

Bargaining Council for the Motor Ferry Industry

Extension to non-parties of the Main Collective Agreement

11. Short Time
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11.1. When an employer is facing a temporary slump in activity and contemplates short time, the employer must consult any registered trade union whose members might be affected by the contemplated short time or, if there is no such trade union, the employees likely to be affected by same, or their nominated representatives.

 

11.2. The employer and the other consulting parties must, in the consultation envisaged by above clauses, engage in a meaningful joint consensus-seeking process and attempt to reach consensus on appropriate measures:
11.2.1. To avoid the short time;
11.2.2. To minimise the impact of the short time;
11.2.3. To change the timing of the short time; and
11.2.4. To mitigate the adverse effects of the short time, by:
11.2.4.1. As a first option, temporary placement of employees at other operations of the employer in order to guarantee remuneration;
11.2.4.2. As a second option, only when the first option has been exhausted, rotation of employees in a shift system, so that all affected employees work at least thirty-six (36) hours of their normal working hours per week; and
11.2.4.3. As a last option, only when the first and second options have been exhausted, granting paid time off by way of annual leave during the period of short time, or part thereof, subject to the provisions of clauses 12.10.4 and 12.10.6 below; and
11.2.5.The method for selecting the employees to be affected by the short time, as well as the method for selecting employees to participate in the mitigating strategies contemplated in clause 12.2.4 above.

 

11.3. The employer must issue a written notice, inviting the other consulting party to consult with it within seventy-two (72) hours, disclosing in writing all relevant information, including, but not limited to:
11.3.1. The reasons for the proposed short time;
11.3.2. The alternatives that the employer considered before proposing the short time, and the reasons for rejecting each of those alternatives;
11.3.3. The number of employees likely to be affected and the job categories in which they are employed;
11.3.4. The proposed method for selecting affected employees;
11.3.5. The time when, or the period during which, the short time is likely to take effect;
11.3.6. Any assistance that the employer proposes to offer to the employees on short time; and
11.3.7. The possibility of the short time being called off before the anticipated end time.

 

11.4. The provisions of section 16 of the Labour Relations Act apply, read with the changes required by the context, to the disclosure of information in terms of the previous clause.

 

11.5. In any dispute in which in which an arbitrator or the Labour Court is required to decide whether or not any information is relevant, the onus is on the employer to prove that any information that it has refused to disclose is not relevant for the purposes for which it is sought.

 

11.6. The employer must allow the other consulting party an opportunity during consultation to make representations about any matter dealt with in the clauses above, as well as any other matter relating to the proposed short time.

 

11.7 The employer must consider and respond to the representations made by the other consulting party and, if the employer does not agree with them, the employer must state the reasons for disagreeing.

 

11.8. If any representation is made in writing, the employer must respond in writing.

 

11.9. The employer must select the employees to be placed on short time according to selection criteria:
11.9.1. That have been agreed to by the consulting parties; or
11.9.2. If no criteria have been agreed, criteria that are fair and objective.

 

11.10. Notwithstanding the above:
11.10.1. During any period of short time, there shall be no overtime work; and
11.10.2. During any period of short time, the employer shall not utilise the services of a temporary employment service in the positions of the employees who are on short time.

 

11.11. Before implementing any short time, the employer shall place employees potentially affected by the implementation of short time in positions where that work is being performed by temporary employment services, provided such employees are able to perform that work.

 

11.12. The consultation period after receiving the notice contemplated in clause 3 above, shall not be less than seventy-two (72) hours, unless the parties reach agreement at an earlier stage during the consultation;

 

11.13. No employer shall institute short time for less than two (2) working days or more than five (5) working days at a single instance, with the understanding that the first two (2) days of short time shall be normal working days with employees earning the same remuneration for those two (2) days;

 

11.14. No employer shall institute short time for more than one (1) instance within a period of twenty-one (21) days;

 

11.15. In extreme cases and by agreement between parties, the short time can be extended upon the return to normal time after the five (5) days of short time, on condition that:
11.15.1.The extension shall start with two (2) days of normal time and end after a maximum of five (5) days of short time;
11.15.2.For and during the extended short time, the employer shall be bound by the same mitigating efforts outlined in clause 12.2.4 above; and
11.15.3.Fifty percent (50 %) of the paid time off for the extended short time shall be borne by the employer as company leave, and fifty percent (50 %) from the affected employee's annual leave endowment.