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

Notices

Bargaining Council for the Metal and Engineering Industries

Extension of the Consolidated Main Collective Agreement to Non-parties (for the period 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2024)

Part I

47. Time Off for Representatives of Party Trade Unions who act as Trustees of the Industry Benefit Funds or who are Office Bearers of the MERSETA, Metal and Plastics Chamber

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(1)Employer organizations must, as far as possible encourage their members to release party trade union representatives employed at their establishments for duties as Trustees of the Industry benefit funds, accommodate such representatives for Trustee training and attendance as office bearers of the Merseta, Metal and Plastic Chamber meetings and programmes.

 

(2)An employee who is an office bearer of a party trade union, is entitled to take reasonable leave during working hours for the purposes of performing the functions of that office.

 

(3)The representative trade union and the employer may agree to the number of days leave, the number of days of paid leave and the conditions attached to any leave.

 

(4)subject to reasonable conditions to be agreed at company level, a trade union representative elected as a representative as a trustee on the industry benefit funds and/or a representative on the MERSETA and/or the Council will be entitled to a minimum of ten days' paid leave per annum for purposes of performing his/her duties as a trustee on the industry benefit funds and /or representative on the MERSETA and/or the Council.

 

(5)The above provision constitutes a minimum floor of rights and any rights at plant level currently exceeding these will remain in force.

 

(6)In principle it is in the best interest of all the Parties to ensure that shop stewards who have been elected as Trustees and/or Representatives on industry bodies are able to attend meetings in the interest of advancing the word of these bodies and that the shop stewards elected as trustees or representatives on industry bodies will not be out of pocket in relation to lost wages when attending to such duties.

 

(7)The Bargaining Council Administration Fund will ensure that claims for compensation in terms of lost wages, over and above the minimum entitlement to ten days paid leave per annum, will be made to the employee by the Council Administration Fund.

 

(8)As far as it is practicably possible to do so, the trade unions will endeavour to ensure that employers are not unnecessarily prejudiced by the obligations of any one shop stewards being unnecessarily burdened with representational and/or trustee duties resulting in unreasonable absences from work.

 

(9)Where a shop steward is granted leave to attend an Industry Benefit Fund, MERSETA and/or the Council meeting, this will be treated as a shift worked.