/ 17 March 2008

No pay bonus on double public holiday

Workers are entitled to be paid for only one of the public holidays that will be celebrated this Friday, not both, the director of a local law firm said.

According to the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, they are only entitled to compensation for one day’s work, and not for both Human Rights Day and Good Friday, both of which fall on Friday, said Deneys Reitz director Brian Patterson on Monday.

”Some commentators have suggested that employees are entitled to be paid double [if they do not work on March 21 2008] or quadruple [if they do work] since two public holidays fall on one day.”

In the absence of a collective agreement that provides for payment for each public holiday, or a proclamation from the president of another holiday, there is only one other possibility, he said.

”Employers and their employees or trade unions [need] to reach an agreement in respect of extra pay or the exchange of one of the public holidays for another day in terms of section 2(2) of the Public Holidays Act.”

News24 quoted Professor Hugo Pienaar, an expert in labour law from Pienaar Swart and Nkaiseng Advocates, as saying that there is not an additional day in the year. ”Thus people cannot be paid for an additional day.”

Pienaar said that the law does not make provision for the unusual situation of two public holidays falling on one day. The law is not aimed at overcompensating people.

”People who work on the 21st are entitled to double pay according to law,” Pienaar said. They are not entitled to double their double pay. — Sapa