In a letter to the editor of Business Day, Michael Bagraim, Democratic Alliance MP and well-known labour analyst, writes that employees can now lodge complaints about the nonpayment of the national minimum wage directly with the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).  

He says this is fantastic news for all employees who have been bogged down by various badly structured offices in the department of labour.  Claims for nonpayment of salary, overtime, leave pay and disbursements have invariably been retarded by the inefficiency of the department.  Now these claims can go to the CCMA, who will have it mediated and adjudicated within 30 to 60 days.  Unfortunately, a claim under the National Minimum Wage Act sent to the CCMA can be appealed against to the Labour Court, which could take years to make a ruling.  The idea was to ensure that claims in terms of the National Minimum Wage Act would be efficiently done at no cost.  The ability to appeal to the Labour Court would once again bog the matter down for years.  Bagraim laments that, unfortunately, the government has not seen fit to listen to reason by making the rulings of the CCMA final and binding.

• The original of the above letter from Michael Bagraim is at BusinessLive

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