Q. Hi Judy
My husband is employed in the motor industry and is a Numsa union member. He works a 45 hour week from 07:30 to 17:00 with a half an hour lunch break. He was told that he must work every second Saturday from 08:00 to 12:00 and how they would calculate there saturday time was to add up all their lunch breaks during the week which is 2Hours 30 minutes and subtract this from their saturday work time so in actual fact he will only get paid for one and a half hours when in fact he worked four hours.
Let me know what advice I can give him.
RegardsBarbara
Dear Barbara
What the employer is proposing sounds very wrong. There seem to be two choices facing the employer if he wants him to work on a Saturday the week that he works on a Saturday he must work for 41 hours from Monday to Friday (excluding the lunch break) and then the 4 hours on the Saturday.
Total time worked = 45 hours and no overtime is paid because the 4 hours is part of the 45 hours. He cannot take from his lunch break, the half hour lunch break is set down in the agreement.
If he wants him to work 45 hours from Monday to Friday and then Saturday for 4 hours, then he must pay him on Saturday at one and a half times his normal rate of pay
If he is still unhappy, tell him to contact his nearest Numsa office.
Q. Dear Judy
My husband is a member of NUMSA.
I would like to know what the procedures for taking leave are. Previously we have requested leave and it was denied.
Please advise me what the correct steps are. Is he allowed a certain amount of leave during the year? Is this considered paid or unpaid leave?
(Note: the name of the member has been left out to protect him)
Lucretia
Dear Lucretia!
I have forwarded your query to one of our legal officers and this was his reply.
It is not clear whether the comrade is seeking advice in respect of annual vacation or sick or special, study or paternity and / or family bereavement leave.
A reading of her question as to whether the husband is allowed certain amount of leave during the year suggests that we are dealing with annual leave.
Your husband would need to find out what law applies to him by asking the following questions:
Does he have an individual contract signed with the employer. If yes, leave would be spelt out on this contract
Is he covered by a centralized collective bargaining agreement?
Which sector does he fall under? Numsa organises in the engineering, motor, auto and tyre sectors and each one has a slightly different central agreement.
Does his company fall under the centralized bargaining agreement and if yes, does his category of work fall under this agreement. Some more skilled workers fall outside of the collective agreements that Numsa has negotiated.
The best thing for him to do is to speak to his shop steward or to contact his nearest office to find out the answer to all these questions.
Q. Hi Judy, I would like some advice on the following issue.
I have instituted a grievance procedure against my company for allowing racist and derogatory material to be broadcast throughout the company via its e-mail system. An advert was broadcast through our e-mail system. It portrayed two Indian characters that are very popular due to the “corsa lite” ad campaign.
In it, it makes a reference to the 2 characters calling themselves “Coolies”
Can the Union help me with this? I am currently in the process of referring the matter to the CCMA.
Thank you.Anonymous
Note:
This e-mail was received during annual shutdown.
By the time the New Year began, the comrade in question had referred the matter to the CCMA because he was dissatisfied with the company’s response.
He promised to keep us informed.