Labour Relations

Labour Relations

by Andrew Patricio

Choosing and keeping the right staff in your business is vital. Ensure that you get the best you can afford.

· Your employees are the key to your success in your own business.

· Motivation affects employee performance so ensure that you keep your staff motivated so that you can achieve your company goals.

· Happy employees lead to happy customers.

· Motivated employees make your job easier.

Getting the right employees

· Decide what employees you need. A good idea is to draw up an organizational chart with every job in your business.

· List the duties of every position. As your business grows this could eventually develop into a full operations manual for each function in your business.

· Advertise for people.

· Select employees. If you can afford it use a reputable recruitment agency to assist you.

· Give employees a contact of employment, grievance procedure, disciplinary procedure and what is expected of them when it comes to their job.

· Orientate and train employees.

· Develop an organisational chart to suit your business and ensure that you have a list of job requirements for each position so that there is no confusion.

Part-time Staff

It is a good idea to employ part-time staff. You should contact a local agency that you can work with so that when you require someone to help you out they are just a phone call away. More and more small businesses are using part-timers.

What does your staff want?

How do we keep our staff motivated? By finding out what they want. Some of the things that staff want:

· To work in a friendly caring environment.
· To have a secure job.
· To be paid a fair wage.
· To be recognized for doing a good job.
· To work for fair management.
· To participate in decisions that affect them.
· Interesting and challenging work.
· Opportunities for promotion and growth.
· To have a clear understanding of what is expected of them.

How to keep your staff motivated

· Lead by example; demonstrate your own motivation through behaviour and attitude.

· Be an organized owner. Have a plan in place that you can share with your staff. Ensure that you have a daily to do list that you and your staff can stick to.

· Provide adequate training. Good training motivates staff: ensure that have on-going training and encourage your staff to attend outside training programs, these are tax deductible.

· Give responsibility. You staff want to feel that they are part of the success of the business so give them responsibility and let them prove their value to the business.

· Give positive reinforcement. Personally congratulate staff for a good job or for offering excellent service.

· Publicly recognize your staff for good work and service. Introduce an employee of the week to encourage you staff to do their best.

· Understand you employee's needs. Some might prefer flexi-time if they have children, as long as the job gets done.

· Ask your employees what motivates them. Different things motivate different people.

· Listen to your staff - let them know that their opinion is valuable. Encourage them to come up with ideas to improve service, product range etc. Provide personal enlightenment and challenges. Give your staff projects that encourage them to develop as human beings.

· Make it easy for your staff to communicate with you. Keep employees updated and informed about what is happening in the business and how the business is doing. They need to know when things are going well and vice-versa.

· Develop a caring attitude. If your employees are working in caring environment customers are going benefit from this. You want your employees to love coming to work in the morning. You as the owner are responsible for developing this culture of caring.

· Be likeable. Your staff will put in that extra effort if they like you so work on this.

· Have fun. Most of our lives are spent at work so lets enjoy it.

· Reward your staff. Share profits with your staff if possible.

Grievance Procedure

When a staff member has a problem or a grievance there needs to be a procedure that they go through to have their grievance heard. You need to draw up a grievance procedure that shows the steps and employee has to go through to have their grievance heard

Disciplinary procedure

· If you as an employer have a problem with a staff member there must be a disciplinary procedure that you will follow.

· The law makes a provision for disciplining or firing employees as long as the procedure is fair.

· Before taking any disciplinary action against an employee you must have a good reason and the action you take must be appropriate.

· Investigate the case and obtain evidence

· Give your employee the opportunity to state his or her side of the story.

· For serious offences get an impartial person to investigate the case.

Have a code of conduct for your business which will include:

· Workplace rules
· Expected behaviour
· Disciplinary procedure
· Penalty for common offences

For more information on labour, consult the Department of Labour or a labour attorney who has experience with small businesses. Ensure that you start out on the right footing and you will have happy staff and you will be a happy employer. Visit this site belonging to the Department of Labour to ensure that you have all the laws in place www.labour.gov.za.

Employment Equity Act

The purpose of the Act is to achieve equity in the workplace by -
Promoting equal opportunity and fair treatment in employment through the elimination of unfair discrimination and
Implementing affirmative action measures to redress the disadvantages in employment experienced by designated groups, in order to ensure their equitable representation in all occupational categories and levels in the workforce.

Employer affected by this act:

An employer who employs more than 50 employees
If you fall into the above category it is advisable to contact a labour attorney about this

Skills Development Act and Levies

Purpose of the act

· Develop the skills of the South African workforce.

· To increase the levels of investment in education and training of the labour market.

· To encourage employers to train their staff

Levy payable

· 2000 0.5% of your salary bill.
· 1st April 2001 1% of your salary bill.

What businesses have to pay this levy?

· Any business that is registered with the SARS as an employer (i.e. collects SITE or PAYE from staff)
· Any business that has a salary bill which is more than R250 000.00 per annum.

The Occupational Health and Safety Act

Requires the employer to bring about and maintain, as far as reasonably practicable, a work environment that is safe and without risk to the health of the workers. This means that the employer must ensure that the workplace is free of hazardous substances that may cause injury, damage or disease. Where this is not possible, the employer must inform workers of these dangers, how they may be prevented, and how to work safely, and provide other protective measures for a safe workplace. For more information visit www.labour.gov.za.

Basic Conditions of Employment

As an employer, you have to abide by the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, 1997. To obtain a copy of the act contact the Department of Labour or visit one of the following websites:
www.labour.gov.za.
www.acts.co.za.

Back to www.bizland.co.za

·	Your employees are the key to your success in your own business.
·	Motivation affects employee performance so ensure that you keep your staff motivated so that you can achieve your company goals.
·	Happy employees lead to happy customers.
·	Motivated employees make your job easier.

·	Decide what employees you need. A good idea is to draw up an organizational chart with every job in your business.
·	List the duties of every position. As your business grows this could eventually develop into a full operations manual for each function in your business.
·	Advertise for people.
·	Select employees. If you can afford it use a reputable recruitment agency to assist you.
·	Give employees a contact of employment, grievance procedure, disciplinary procedure and what is expected of them when it comes to their job.
·	Orientate and train employees.
·	Develop an organisational chart to suit your business and ensure that you have a list of job requirements for each position so that there is no confusion.

·	Lead by example; demonstrate your own motivation through behaviour and attitude.
·	Be an organized owner. Have a plan in place that you can share with your staff. Ensure that you have a daily to do list that you and your staff can stick to.
·	Provide adequate training. Good training motivates staff: ensure that have on-going training and encourage your staff to attend outside training programs, these are tax deductible.
·	Give responsibility. You staff want to feel that they are part of the success of the business so give them responsibility and let them prove their value to the business.
·	Give positive reinforcement. Personally congratulate staff for a good job or for offering excellent service.
·	Publicly recognize your staff for good work and service. Introduce an employee of the week to encourage you staff to do their best.
·	Understand you employee's needs. Some might prefer flexi-time if they have children, as long as the job gets done.
·	Ask your employees what motivates them. Different things motivate different people.
·	Listen to your staff - let them know that their opinion is valuable. Encourage them to come up with ideas to improve service, product range etc. Provide personal enlightenment and challenges. Give your staff projects that encourage them to develop as human beings.
·	Make it easy for your staff to communicate with you. Keep employees updated and informed about what is happening in the business and how the business is doing. They need to know when things are going well and vice-versa.
·	Develop a caring attitude. If your employees are working in caring environment customers are going benefit from this. You want your employees to love coming to work in the morning. You as the owner are responsible for developing this culture of caring.
·	Be likeable. Your staff will put in that extra effort if they like you so work on this.
·	Have fun. Most of our lives are spent at work so lets enjoy it.
·	Reward your staff. Share profits with your staff if possible.

·	If you as an employer have a problem with a staff member there must be a disciplinary procedure that you will follow.
·	The law makes a provision for disciplining or firing employees as long as the procedure is fair.
·	Before taking any disciplinary action against an employee you must have a good reason and the action you take must be appropriate.
·	Investigate the case and obtain evidence
·	Give your employee the opportunity to state his or her side of the story.
·	For serious offences get an impartial person to investigate the case.

·	Develop the skills of the South African workforce.
·	To increase the levels of investment in education and training of the labour market.
·	To encourage employers to train their staff