I am quite amazed at the regular malpractice of companies who claim to adhere to labour laws and how many employees are ignorant about their rights.
It probably stems from the mind-set that that ‘we have been doing this for ever, so we are the law’. Labour brokers are a keen point of contention, with recent rulings declaring their contracts fictitious and of having no legal standing.
After the 2008 downturn in the economy, many labour brokers basically stole from the workers hourly rates in order to maintain their standard of living and income.
Equally so, now the client who uses the services of the labour broker will be held equally liable for any incorrect application of the law ie not following correct procedures and such during terminations if so deemed by the labour court. This makes labour broker services contentious.
Besides from companies using labour brokers to side step the law, which is now being eliminated, there is no purpose that a labour broker serves as the human resources department is equipped for this function. Labour brokers outsource their PAYE and tax calculations to another company and then they produce a payslip and post it off. Big money for using a printer.
Pravin Gordhan has also now stated in his budget speech, that any international company operating a satellite business in South Africa will now be responsible for tax contributions. This sounds like the Starbucks situation that was recently brought to the fore in London, with obvious consequences that there should be compensation for being able to market your services abroad.
‘The professionals’ with great websites are usually the biggest sharks.
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