Today's Labour News

Business Times reports that in a bid to bolster energy supply through to the end of last year, Eskom, the National Treasury and the Ministry of Electricity formulated a plan to allow the state-owned power utility to pay power station staff performance incentives.

Accordingly, Eskom loosened the purse strings for staff who improved the performances of their respective power stations. Eskom leaders now believe the utility can improve further if staff morale is enhanced. According to Eskom spokesperson Daphne Mokwena, performance-based incentives are being paid to power station employees who met predefined targets within their respective areas of responsibility. She said: “These incentives are awarded only to staff directly contributing to measurable structural improvements in the power system, particularly at power stations. The incentives are linked to the achievement of daily targets at station level and are budgeted for accordingly.” Mokwena explained further: “Employees who do not meet targets will not qualify for incentive payments. The scheme is not permanent and will be periodically reviewed to ensure it continues to promote a culture of high performance and operational excellence.” She would not disclose how much Eskom paid out in performance incentives but said these were governed by Eskom’s remuneration and performance management policies and were approved by the board. “These policies ensure that bonuses are tied to clearly defined performance metrics and operational achievements. As a responsible organisation, we focus on balancing fair remuneration with financial prudence.”

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Khulekani Magubane at Business Times (subscriber access only)

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