| 1. | Purpose of Constitution |
The purpose of this Constitution is to govern the procedures of the Independent Exemptions Appeal Board (“the Board”), established by the Metal and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council (“the Council”), in terms of Section 32(3)(e) of the Labour Relations Act and Clause 23 of the Main Agreement and to ensure that the Board operates in an orderly and transparent manner.
| 2. | Application of Constitution |
This Constitution applies to all exemption appeals1 except to the extent that a collective agreement sets out a different procedure for the hearing of exemption appeals in respect of an application to be exempt from any provision of that particular collective agreement.
| 3.1 | An exemption appeal may be lodged by any affected party in respect of the whole or part of a decision of an exemption committee of Council. |
| 3.2 | Except in exceptional circumstances, an appeal lodged with the Board is considered on the papers filed by all interested parties. |
| 3.3 | An exemption appeal is a re-consideration of the merits of the original exemption application. |
| 4.1 | In considering an appeal the Board must take into account— |
| 4.1.1 | the criteria set out in clause 23(2) and 23(5)(e) of the Main Agreement of the Council; |
| 4.1.2 | any criteria established or approved by the management committee of the Council in terms of the national exemptions policy of Council.2 |
| 4.2 | In addition the Board must consider— |
| 4.2.1 | the financial hardship of the applicant for exemption; |
| 4.2.2 | the potential impact an exemption may have on the collective bargaining process; |
| 4.2.3 | whether alternatives to exemption were considered or implemented; |
| 4.2.4 | the need to avoid retrenchments; |
| 4.2.5 | any other factors relevant to the particular exemption application. |
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1 Terms that appear in italic are terms defined in clause 21 of this Constitution.
