What about my employee?

The South African constitution provides for some basic rights for workers.

The Labour Relations Act (LRA) expands on these basic rights.

In addition to this, the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) seeks to protect vulnerable workers. The conditions outlined in the LRA and the BCEA aren’t inflexible, meaning that employers can offer better conditions, but not worse conditions.

The most important advice for any worker is to read and know your contract. While a contract isn’t strictly necessary, it protects both the employer and the employee.

THE COMPENSATION FOR OCCUPATIONAL INJURIES AND DISEASE ACT 

The Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (“COIDA”) creates a statutory insurance framework that provides compensation to full-time and part-time employees who as a result of a workplace accident or work-related disease are either injured, killed or become ill. All employees can benefit from COIDA except independent contractors, members of the police and defence force, anyone receiving military training, anyone who’s employed outside South Africa for 12 or more continuous months and workers who’re only temporarily employed in South Africa.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
HEALTH AND SAFETY
The Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) gives guidelines on the things that must be in place to ensure the health and safety of employees. Some of the rights include proper toilets, first aid, drinking water, changing facilities, protective clothing, ventilation, lighting and temperature. Workers in mines and ships are exempted from OHSA. The covid-19 pandemic presented new workplace issues addressed in the guidelines and direction for OHS issued by the minister of Employment and Labour in October 2020.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Source information – https://www.lrs.org.za/