Pretoria – The Department of Labour will conduct national Wholesale and Retail Sector public hearings in Bloemfontein, Free State, at its Labour Centre on Wednesday.
The department has begun a national consultative process to engage the industry on the modalities of setting a new multi-year minimum wage adjustment structure and discuss conditions of employment in the sector.
The current Wholesale and Retail multi-year Sectoral Determination is coming to an end next year in January.
The new three-year Sectoral Determination is expected to kick in on 1 February 2016. The national public hearings are targeted at employers, employer organisations, employees and trade unions to make inputs.
The Wholesale and Retail Sector Sectoral Determination review is in line with the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA), which empowers Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant to consult with stakeholders in the sector to source information in relation to the wage adjustment and conditions of employment.
Issues to be discussed during national public hearings include discussing the structure of the new Sectoral Determination, allowances, leave structure and other issues.
The Wholesale and Retail Sector Sectoral Determination affects various categories of workers including cashiers, clerks, assistant managers, displayers, forklift operators, security guards, merchandisers, managers, sales assistants, sales persons, shop assistant supervisors and trainee managers.
For the current Wholesale and Retail Sector Sectoral Determination, which took effect from 1 February 2015, the minimum wage increased at rates between 6.1% and 8.1% in various job categories.
The public hearings will also be held in Welkom at Freddy Meyer Hall in Stateway on Friday.
All the public hearings will be preceded a day before by a site visit to premises of organisations/companies operating in the sector(s). Both public hearings and site visits will start at 10am. – SAnews.gov.za
