Employer slapped with R17m fine

Cape Town - The commission for conciliation, mediation and arbitration (CCMA) has ordered a KwaZulu-Natal based textile company to pay a R17m fine for non-compliance with the provisions of the national textile bargaining council's wage provisions. This is one of the highest fines - if not the highest - imposed on a non-compliant employer, says the union.

The fine follows a fine imposed for similar reasons on a QwaQwa company of R4.1m. Rowmoor, the QwaQwa company, had to pay an arbitrated award over its failure to pay its workers their annual bonuses, outstanding wages and annual leave pay last December.

According to the SA Clothing & Textile Workers Union (Sactwu) in a statement issued last Tuesday the financial compensation awarded by the arbitrator was the biggest ever amount made in the industry. The 4.1m included legal costs.

The most recent award was made in an arbitration by CCMA Commissioner Jabulani Ngwane, following a hearing held in June.

In the award, Ngwane found the company, Tai Yuen Textiles, guilty of a wage underpayment of 393 employees from 12 February 2007 to 27 April 2008, amounting to R11.5m.

Unpaid contributions

In addition, the company unlawfully failed to pay provident fund contributions and he ordered it to pay almost a million rand in unpaid employer contributions. The company was also ordered to pay the workers just over a million rand in unpaid annual bonuses, to pay arrear bargaining council levies of R49 000, and the union's HIV/Aids levy of just over R2 000.

The company was also ordered to pay more than R5m in interest for all the under-and non-payments.

A statement from the union called on Monday for continued strong action against non-complaint employers who flout this country's laws by not granting workers the rights and benefits which accrue for collective agreements legitimately negotiated under in terms of the provisions of the Labour Relations Act.

- I-Net Bridge