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The list of services to clients include the following:
Out of retainer costs:
In the absence of any retainer being agreed upon clients are charged an adhoc rate per hour and travel.
Monthly retainers:
A monthly retainer has been developed to provide the employer with cost effective access to sound advice and practice (on Labour issues, Employment Equity, OHS, POPI and Skills Development), and will allow for effective budgeting on the part of the client.
Labour Relations Retainers:
These are determined on the following categories and are adjusted annually in January.
Employment Equity: for employers with less than 100 employees and for those with more than 100
Skills Development: for employers with less than 100 employees and for those with more than 100
Occupational Health and Safety: for employers with less than 100 employees and for those with more than 100
My Labour Space: R275 per month (for less than 100 employees)
Telephone Support:
This provides for telephonic and email access for any labour related matter. Guidance and advice is provided over the phone and documents etc… can be reviewed. All work done on site for the client is charged at a reduced adhoc rate of R850 per hour.
On site Retainers:
These retainers provide for free telephonic and email support, as well as on site consulting and disciplinary hearings up to the maximum number of hours per month, as provided for.
The number of hours allocated are averaged over the 12-month period January to December, with a maximum monthly “in retainer” use of double the normal monthly allocation.
If you have exceeded the total allotted number of hours for the “12-month period”, or you exceed double your allowed monthly allocation, you will be invoiced at a reduced rate per hour for the excess hours.
The monthly cost also includes any letters to be drafted etc…
Employment Equity:
Employers who are “designated employers”, in other words, employ more than 50 employees, or who meet the annual turnover threshold, as determined in the Employment Equity Act, are required to comply with stringent administrative procedures every year. These employers must prepare an “Employment Equity Plan”, and a “Report” each year for submission to Department of Labour. Their company policies and procedures will be subject to scrutiny, and they are also required to have 4 meetings per year with their employment equity committee, to ensure compliance with the Act.
To contain costs whist facilitating compliance with the Act, a retainer has been developed for employers, in which SA LR Services, will develop your Equity Plan with you, take control of the Equity Process, facilitate, and participate in the equity meetings to ensure that they take place, and that they meet the requirements of the Department of Labour. We will also keep a record of the notes from these meetings, and we will assist in submitting your Equity Report each year. If the Department of Labour come round, to inspect your plan, we will be present at this meeting to ensure that you are protected. The retainer, however, specifically excludes any work attached to a Director General (DG) Audit. We cannot budget for this in the retainer as this can be as much as 10 hours of additional work, and not everyone will be audited each year. This will be invoiced separately if the client is audited.
For those employers who should have, but have not prepared their employment Equity report, or who have reports outstanding, or have compliance orders from Department of Labour, will need to ensure that these are resolved prior to the submission of the current years’ plans. This work will be quoted separately at a reduced rate of R850 per hour.
Skills Development:
All employers contribute monthly to their relevant SETA. As such each employer has an opportunity to recover some of these monies through various training initiatives. The ability to do this is premised on the correct administrative procedures being in place. The retainer has as its goal to provide for the successful submission of the WSP and facilitating the recovery of monies from the SETA.
Workplace Skills Plan
For those employers who have require their skills Development process (policies and procedures/ committee establishment/ committee training/ SETA registration or verification etc…), will need to ensure that these are resolved prior to the submission of the current years’ WSP.
Occupational Health and Safety:
All employers are required to comply with the provisions of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. These regulations include the requirements for a Safety Committee to be appointed, and for it to meet every quarter, the relevant Safety Rep’s to be officially appointed and trained, and a Safety Manager to be trained and appointed as well. In addition, there are significant responsibilities on an employer to ensure that the business premises are maintained in a safe manner.
We realise that these processes are time consuming and significantly administrative in nature, all the while having serious consequences for non-compliance. As breaches of this Act can result in a criminal charge being raised against the employer in his/ her personal capacity, (as the individual ultimately accountable for Health and Safety), it is imperative that the required seriousness be applied to this aspect of the business.
Clients who opt to go retainer will benefit from the following services:
Please note that if the employer has no policies or procedures in place, relevant to Health and Safety, these will be established for the employer, but fall outside of the retainer. This work will be quoted separately as a “set up fee”. The set-up generally requires 7 to 10 hours of work. If more than 10 hours are required, the hours above 10 will be invoiced by the hour, at a reduced rate per hour. The retainer does also NOT include dealing with Workman’s Compensation on behalf of the employer. As you know this is incredibly time consuming with very little satisfactory result being experienced.
All CCMA and Bargaining Council, Conciliations, and Arbitrations are charged at an hourly rate.
Conciliations and Arbitrations are charged as follows.
Hours charged will include the preparation time, travelling time, distance travelled, sundry expenses (toll fees, parking, printing, etc..) and attendance at the CCMA.
Other CCMA related services:
An employer is bound by legislation to provide written employment contracts and conditions of service. The cost to provide a customised set of documents can be prohibitive. Over the past 12 years, my Associates and I, have designed and modified a “pack” to suit each employers’ requirements. This pack is in use by no less than 2500 employers across the country, it has been tested in negotiations with trade unions and at the CCMA and Labour Court. The pack is in strict accordance with the requirement of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, Labour Relations Act, and the minimum conditions as required by the various Bargaining Councils and is approximately 100 pages in length and includes all Labour Relations documentation and contracts required by an employer, as follows:
If required, an interpreter will assist in discussion with staff on their conditions of service. The cost is included in the cost of the pack.