BusinessLive reports that government departments are paying a price for their tardiness in implementing arbitration awards in disputes with employees.
The Public Service Commission’s (PSC’s) Moira Marais-Martin said on Thursday that, while this failure to implement rulings was "not on a huge scale", there was an increase in costs because of litigation over compensation for successful applicants. She also said that government departments often displayed "an unhealthy level of hostility" towards aggrieved employees who pursued recourse through the labour court and other arbitration. A PSC report indicated that government departments incurred arbitration awards against them to the value of R166m from 2013 to 2016, and R94m on compensation costs. Some departments have had to spend much as R1.8m on interest for delaying to pay the amounts due. The PSC’s recommendations include that departments develop an "overarching policy framework to assist where awards are allocated".
- Read this report by Khulekani Magubane in full at BusinessLive
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