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

Notices

Bargaining Council for the Building Industry, Cape of Good Hope

Extension to Non-parties of the Main Consolidated Collective Agreement

Chapter Eight: Termination of Employment

40. Temporary Lay-Off

 

(1) An employer shall be entitled to lay off an employee temporarily on account of—
(a) inclement weather, or
(b) a shortage of materials, due to circumstances beyond the employer's control,or
(c) on account of a temporary shortage of work, or
(d) loadshedding - where work cannot be performed without the use of electricity, or
(e) civil and/or political unrest, where this unrest action prevents the normal work activities from continuing on a specific site.

 

(2) In all instances where this clause is to be implemented, the following process is to be followed by the employer—
(a) written notice of the lay-off shall be given to the employee before completion of the normal working shift preceding the day on which the lay-off is to be Implemented;
(b) the written notice must include the reason for the lay-off and the period of the lay-off;
(c) where it is not possible to comply with sub clause (a) above, the employer shall pay the employee the equivalent of two hours' wages for short notice of the lay-off;
(d) in the case of loadshedding, employers and employees are to negotiate alternative working hours around loadshedding hours to catch up with the work lost due to loadshedding. Where agreement is not reached or the loadshedding hours are of such a nature that alternative work hours are not practical, the employee can be laid off for the day in question.

 

(3) The employer shall not be liable to pay employee wages and benefits except as specified in sub clause (2)(c) above during the lay-off.
(a) Where the lay-off period includes a public holiday, the employer will not be compelled to remunerate the employee for the public holiday.
(b) An employer may not apply the lay-off clause to avoid complying with the provisions of the Public Holidays Act (Act No 36 of 1994).

 

(4) An employer may lay an employee off in terms of sub clause (1) above for a continuous period not exceeding 20 (twenty) working days and if at the end of such period the employer wishes to extend the lay-off period for a further 10 (ten) working days the employee shall first be given the option of being retrenched in accordance with the procedure laid down in clause 41.

 

(5) The number of lay-offs permitted in terms of sub clause (4) above is limited to 2 (two) per benefit year (1 November to 31 October), thereafter the employer must apply for exemption in terms of Clause 57 to implement further lay-offs during this period.
(a) This sub clause does not apply to lay-offs for the following reasons—
(i) inclement weather, or
(ii) loadshedding, or
(iii) civil and/or political unrest, where this unrest action prevents the normal work activities from continuing on a specific site.

 

(6) Where it can be established that the employer has not complied with the provisions of this clause, the employer will be held liable to remunerate the employee for the period that the employee was laid off.

 

(7) Where it can be established that the employer has used the lay-off clause contrary to clause 39 and simply used a lay-off as a disciplinary measure without following the applicable disciplinary procedures, the employer will be held liable to remunerate the employee for the period that the employee was laid off.