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

Notices

Bargaining Council for the Metal and Engineering Industries

Consolidated 2021/2025 Plastic Industry Main Collective Agreement

Chapter 2

6. Payment of Earnings
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(1)Except as otherwise agreed, any amount due to an employee in terms of this Agreement shall be paid weekly, by cheque or EFT, on Friday. The EFT payment shall be made by not later than the ordinary stopping tune and shall include all payments due to the employee calculated up to and including the shift completed on the preceding Tuesday of the same week:—
(a) Provided that where employment terminates before the ordinary pay-day, all payments due to the employee in terms of this Agreement shall be paid to him upon his employment so terminating;
(b) Every employee shall, on payment, be given a statement showing his total earnings, ordinary time and overtime payments, allowances, deductions and the number of shifts accrued towards holiday leave; and
(c)An employer shall communicate the prevailing method of payment observed in an establishment to a newly employed employee and draw the employee's attention to sub-clause (2)(d), if applicable.

 

(2)An employer may, with the consent of the majority of his employees, agree that the provisions of this subsection shall apply to all employees in the establishment.
(a)Where, by agreement as set out above, the method of payment changes from weekly to monthly, the Council shall be deemed to have approved such agreement: Provided that—
(i)all payments due to the employee/s in terms of this Agreement shall be payable to the employee/s on the last Friday of each calendar month;
(ii)the monthly remuneration of employee/s shall not be less than the amount the employee/s would have been entitled to, had such employee/s been paid weekly;
(iii)employee's salaries shall be increased by not less than the equivalent of any statutory increase payable in terms of this Agreement;
(iv) all other provisions of the Agreement shall continue to apply unless otherwise exempted;
(v) all contributions payable in terms of any Council Agreement applicable to such employee/s shall be maintained unless the employee/s or the establishment are legally exempted or excluded from payment of such contributions.
(b)Before converting to monthly payments the employer shall give to the employees concerned and to the Regional Council at least three months notice in advance of the introduction of monthly payment, specifying the manner in which payment of earnings shall be made in the establishment.
(c) Any employee entering into employment in an establishment where the provisions of sub-clause (2)(b) applies, shall be deemed to have accepted such monthly payment as a condition of employment.
(d) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Agreement, payment of leave pay may be made in accordance with the provisions of subsection (2) in the same manner as that by which payment of earnings is made.

 

(3)If mealtimes are agreed to in terms of Clause 4(4)(a)(ii), the meal interval of 30 minutes will form part of the ordinary working day.

 

(4)Except as otherwise provided in this Agreement, no deduction of any description, other than the following may be made from the amount payable in terms of this Agreement to any employee;
(a)for canteen services where the deduction is authorised by stop-order terminable by the employee at not more than 28 days' notice of termination of his agreement to this deduction;
(b) where an employee is absent from work, including absence during any unpaid leave granted in extension of the paid leave provided for in this Agreement a pro rata amount for the period of such absence;
(c) in the absence of a Collective Agreement, with the written consent of the employee, deductions for sick benefit, insurance, pension and provident funds or contributions to recreation funds;
(d)contributions to the funds of the Council;
(e)any amount that an employer is obliged by law, ordinance or legal process to pay and has paid on behalf of an employee;
(f)where an employer, owing to clerical or accounting or administrative error, or miscalculation, pays an employee any remuneration in excess of the amount legally payable, the employer shall be entitled to recover the amount of the overpayment by deduction from subsequent wages or earnings subject to the following provisions:
(i) The deductions may be made from one or more payments of wages or earnings, but no one deduction may exceed 15 percent of the wages or earnings from which it is deducted;
(ii) no such deduction shall be made from any leave pay or leave bonus payable under this Agreement either to the employee or to the Council;
(iii)no such deduction or deductions shall be made unless the employer, in writing, notifies the employee prior to the time of the first deduction, and the Council within seven days of the first deduction of the circumstances under which the overpayment was made, of the amount thereof, and of the amount of the proposed deduction or deductions.

 

(5)With the written consent of the employee, deductions in respect of subscriptions to a trade union party to the Council shall be deducted by the employer from the wages of an employee and shall be paid over to the relevant trade union.

 

(6)No premium for the training of an employee shall be charged or accepted b6y an employer: Provided that this sub-clause shall not apply in respect of training schemes to which the employer is legally required to contribute towards.

 

(7)The employer shall keep a record of each payment to each employee for a period of not less than three years. The record must reflect the employee's names, date of birth, job grade, date of engagement, date of termination (where applicable), rate of pay, nature of each payment and, in the case of wages, the total earnings, ordinary time and overtime payments, allowances, deduction and number of shifts accrued towards leave.