BusinessTech reports that Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) Deputy Minister Jomo Sibiya says SA needs to take a far more aggressive stance against companies that repeatedly break labour laws.

Speaking during an inspection blitz in Gauteng this week, he said the department would be compiling a ‘hit list’ of serial offenders to ensure they received special attention from inspectors. Sibiya said the Inspection and Enforcement Services branch must urgently identify the companies that consistently ignore labour regulations so inspectors can get ahead of ongoing violations. He added that it was becoming increasingly clear that some employers were intentionally cutting corners and simply factoring fines into their operating costs. Sibiya stressed that the DEL must be “agile and a step ahead” to prevent companies from treating labour laws as optional.

According to Sibiya, violations continue to rise across critical pieces of legislation, including the Occupational Health and Safety Act, the Compensation for Injuries and Diseases Act, the Unemployment Insurance Act, the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, and the National Minimum Wage Act. As part of its response, the DEL is implementing Project 20K, a plan to significantly expand the visibility and reach of labour inspectors by adding 20,000 intern inspectors over the current Medium-Term Strategic Framework period. The goal is to strengthen enforcement capacity so that repeated offenders can no longer slip through the cracks.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Malcolm Libera at BusinessTech

Get other news reports at the SA LabourNews home page