MEIBC - Compliance And Exemptions

METAL AND ENGINEERING INDUSTRY
INDUSTRY ALERT

COMPLIANCE AND EXEMPTIONS

 
In this Industry Alert:

• How to deal with the 2014/17 Main Agreement?

• How to deal with exemptions?

• How to deal with compliance enforcement?

Dear Industry Employer

In previous correspondence we have informed you that NEASA has lodged a review application at the Labour Court to set aside the extension of the 2014/17 Main Agreement by the Minister of Labour.
 
This, however, is a rather lengthy process and members need to be informed as to how to deal with the situation in the interim.
 
The fact is that the current Main Agreement, albeit severely flawed, but due to the extension, is applicable to all employers in the Industry, including NEASA members. This means that the new wage increases became applicable on 1 July 2015 and should have been implemented by all employers.
 
However, the exemption provision in the Main Agreement allows employers to apply for exemption from the wage increases up to 31 July 2015.
 
Employers are therefore advised to, where they cannot afford to pay the prescribed increases, grant an increase that is affordable and sustainable in their particular situation and then to apply for an exemption in respect of the shortfall.
 
A further issue that needs to be addressed is the matter of enforcement of the Main Agreement by agents of the MEIBC. Due to the expiry of various empowering collective agreements of the MEIBC, the right of the agents to enforce any of the MEIBC collective agreements at this stage is, to say the least, rather dubious.
 
NEASA members are therefore requested to contact their NEASA regional office should they require assistance with an exemption application or should they receive a compliance order or compliance arbitration notice from the Council.
 
For a contact list of the NEASA regional offices please click here.

Kind Regards

Jaco Swart
National Collective Bargaining Co-ordinator