Barry Streek
All people in the welfare sector will in future be granted three days extra leave on full pay for every Sunday worked and be limited to an average of 15 hours overtime in a week.
Welfare workers will be paid an ordinary wage for overtime but by agreement with their employer they will be granted an additional week’s leave on full pay every year.
The new working conditions for welfare workers were published by the Minister of Labour, Membathisi Mdladlana, in a Government Gazette last week.
The gazetted working conditions cover all employers, excluding the state, who render non-profit social services in South Africa and it applies to employees engaged in the welfare sector.
The determination provides that the “average” hours a week and overtime may be determined by written agreement over a period of up to four months.
Employers will not be permitted to work more than an average of 45 hours a week without being granted overtime.
The determination also provides for written agreements in which welfare workers can waive their right to any payment of an allowance if an employee makes a voluntary request to do so or prefers to work night shifts. It also lays down that welfare workers regularly required to be on standby must be granted an additional week’s leave every year.