An investigation by the department of employment and labour has found the majority of employers in the Western Cape are not complying with labour legislation.

In a statement on Friday, the department said 55% of employers scrutinised by the department’s inspectors in the province during the 2021/2022 financial year were non-compliant. Hlanganisa Dalasile, the department’s employer audit specialist in the Western Cape, said the compliance level dropped to 43.46% in the 2022/2023 financial year. Dalasile described the drop as a “worrying trend across all sectors”.

“Employers not declaring employees on a month-to-month basis has a huge implication. The UIF every month loses millions of rand due to employers who are not paying and declaring their employees. We depend on the employers to do the right thing on a monthly basis to prevent the loss that the fund is experiencing.”

Dalasile said the Unemployment Contributions Act obliges employers to pay unemployment insurance contributions of 2% of the value of each worker’s pay per month and that employers and the worker each contribute 1%.

“When conducting our audits, we have picked up that many employers are deducting money from employees but they don’t pay it over to the fund which is wrong. You can’t deduct money then keep it in your investment account to accumulate interest while the workers are suffering.

“If as an employer you really care about the workers we urge you to do the right thing. Deduct the money and pay it over to the fund so that when the employees are losing their employment in the near future they are not found wanting.”

UIF commissioner Teboho Maruping said compliance benefited employers and employees.

“It’s possible that as a collective we can address these matters but we need to come up with viable solutions. Let’s find solutions together and meet each other halfway as the fund, employers and organised labour,” said Maruping.

Source: TimesLIVE

Photo: Fani Mahuntsi