Today's Labour News

BL Premium reports that former staff at CNA who were retrenched in 2021 are still waiting to receive retrenchment payouts as part of the deal approved last November to sell the embattled stationer.

The stationery retailer was placed in business rescue in June 2020, following which more than 80 poorly performing stores were closed and hundreds of staff lost their jobs. The business rescue plan, which was approved in November 2021, states that CNA would be sold to Black Mountain Investment Management for R2m, with that money specifically allocated to retrenchment packages. Workers who lost their jobs had earlier received letters saying they would be paid in tranches, depending on when a buyer was found. Former CNA employees are entitled to a week’s pay for every year worked at the firm, one month’s notice pay and outstanding annual leave pay. However, they will only get a percentage of what is owed to them as the claims far exceed R2m. Business rescue practitioner Stefan Steyn had expected to finalise payments more quickly, but said there had been delays in the sale process. Steyn said he was still waiting for information from the buyers on the timing of the payments. Black Mountain CEO Mohamed Dhorat said the process of signing settlement letters with each former employee began in April. It is not clear, however, why it has taken three months without a payout being made. According to Dhorat, it is expected the process will be completed within the next two months. Former staff who worked for CNA in 2021 are also having difficulty getting their IRP5 certificates to file their tax returns. Steyn is trying to help the HR team sort out the tax issues and hopes that former staff will receive their tax documents this month.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Katharine Child at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)

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