COVID-19 | UPDATE
Dear Members
On Monday, 1st June 2020, our industry started the slow process of rebuilding as Level 3 commenced in South Africa. We have spent the last few days advising many members on health and safety protocols to ensure that their employees remain safe whilst ramping up their businesses to try and recoup some of the financial losses they have suffered over the past months.
As part of this recovery, the parties to the Collective Agreement in the Western Cape (MBAWC, MBA Boland and Trade Unions) agreed to allow for an Exemption process to be implemented in terms of which the Employer may apply for exemption to the Council in order to work additional hours, weekends and night shifts at the standard time rates. This in order to make up for the time lost due to the COVID-19 lockdown and to provide employees with the opportunity to recoup lost earnings. Click on the link below to access the Agreement, which spells out the details of the terms of the agreement, as well as the Application Template which will need to be used in the process:
Our Belmont Square offices also reopened on 1st June, although we are adhering to guidelines which include reduced hours (09h00 - 15h00) and staff who are able to work from home currently continue to do so. Document sales have resumed and will be available during the hours mentioned above.
As we reported in our last bulletin, the webinar which we held last week was so successful that we've decided to conduct one each week going forward, where we will cover various topics.
On Wednesday, 10th June from 11h00 until 13h00 we will be hosting the second webinar, this time focused on the Contractual & Legal challenges faced as a result of COVID-19, specifically related to Force Majeure. We are very thankful to Professor Tinus Maritz, Brad Boertje and Adv. Pieter Griessel who have generously donated their time to present on this topic, as well as our own panelists, Rick Volker, Jonathan Mitchell and Wouter Viljoen who will also participate.
In order to register for the event, please click on the image above.
Stay safe and stay well.
Kind regards,
Allen Bodill
Executive Director
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We can report some success in terms of the UIF/TERS submissions which our members are being assisted with, but progress is slow. Unfortunately many of the issues being experienced relate to staff not being declared to UIF, incorrect ID numbers, foreign nationals, incorrect salary information, etc. We continue to follow up daily with UIF to try and resolve these issues and will report back as and when we have feedback.
The May submissions are now also open and we trust that once a successful April has been concluded, that the May submission will be a much smoother process.
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HEALTH & SAFETY
Our Health & Safety team have been working hard to put together a
Draft
Safety Plan Guide Note which can be adapted for use by our members. Whilst it covers all the aspects of the Department of Health & Safety's guidelines, it should be used as a
guide
to formulating your own plans, as it is not exhaustive and will be updated as new information becomes available. In order to access the document, please click on the link below.
In addition, we have also produced a simple and easy to understand presentation which can be delivered as part of a daily Toolbox Talk for employees in order to educate them on COVID-19 and the ways to prevent infection and the spread of infection. To view this presentation, please click on the link below.
For a small fee, our Safety team, comprising Deon Bester, OHS Manager and Siya Mbinambina, Health & Safety Officer are available to conduct Safety Presentations at your sites, in the event that you require the support. In order to arrange this, please contact either Deon on 083 262 9868 or Siya on 063 448 8421. Siya would be able to deliver this presentation in isiXhosa which may prove useful for your staff.
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Whilst the article below was covered in a previous bulletin, we feel it would be worth repeating.
WHAT TO DO IF A STAFF MEMBER PRESENTS WITH COVID-19 SYMPTOMS?
by Deon Bester
There appears to be a fair amount of confusion around what do if a staff member presents with symptoms and needs to be referred on for testing.
- The first step that you need to take is to isolate the person before entering the business or site.
- Contact the Western Cape Government COVID-19 hotline on 021-928-4102.
- You will be provided with all of the information you need to proceed.
Your employee would need to be transported to the nearest testing centre based on their home address. This could be one of the following State facilities.
- Groote Schuur Hospital
- Tygerberg Hospital
- Khayelitsha Hospital
- Mitchells Plein Hospital
- Karl Bremmer Hospital
- Somerset Hospital
- Any Community Care Centre
- State Day Hospitals
- State Clinics
The employee will be dealt with by the staff at the various facilities.
The employee can opt for a private testing facility once he or she has consulted with a Doctor, but this would be for their own account. There are numerous private testing facilities and the Doctor will refer the employee to the nearest facility.
The employee would be required to self-isolate until the test results have been made available to him or her. Please note that this could take up to 7 days.
In the case of a positive result, the person must remain isolated for 14 days from the date of testing. If the test is negative, the employee may return to work immediately.
The employer also needs to report all positive cases to the Department of Employment and Labour and the Department of Health.
There remains confusion about what needs to be done after the 14 days to ensure that the person returning to work is no longer infected. The current information we have to hand is that the person
may return to work once he or she has completed the 14 day isolation period. There is no requirement for further testing.
All of the above information was provided by the Western Cape Government Department of Health COVID-19 hotline.
I trust this helps clear up some of the issues around testing, but I cannot stress enough that you
must contact the Western Cape Department of Health 24/7 helpline at
021-928-4102.
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