Home offices and remote work-stations have become widely accepted, meaning many health and safety regulations related to offices have become outdated, writes labour law specialist and DA Shadow Minister of Labour Michael Bagraim for MedicalBrief.
The Basic Conditions of Employment Act also urgently needs to be revisited to consider the changes in staff’s working conditions, and other factors, like cashing in leave as opposed to forfeiting it, should be scrutinised.
Bagraim writes:
The Basic Conditions of Employment Act also urgently needs to be revisited to consider the changes in staff’s working conditions, and other factors, like cashing in leave as opposed to forfeiting it, should be scrutinised.
The ongoing lengthy lockdowns imposed by the government have led to many white-collar workers setting up office in their homes. I have spoken to literally hundreds of employees who will be working from home and virtually into the future.
For a large chunk of the workforce, these changed circumstances have become the norm, rendering many offices redundant.
However, our laws, and in particular those relating to health and safety, are completely geared to individuals leaving their homes and working at the employers’ premises
I raised the issue at a Portfolio Committee meeting of the Parliamentary Portfolio of Employment and Labour, challenging the Employment and Labour minister about health and safety regulations in the workplace, and the minister agreed with this submission.
Employers are subject to a host of regulations and intermittent well-structured investigations from inspectors from the Department of Employment and Labour.
But these inspections will not realise that a large proportion of the workforce is no longer there, and that circumstances have radically changed. The regulations do not take into account these changes, and need to be revisited.
Furthermore, I suggested to the Employment and Labour minister that we should to revisit the Basic Conditions of Employment Act and especially, all of the sections contained therein regarding health and safety of the employees. These need to be updated to take into account current and future circumstances.
The minister agreed that this is a topic that needs to be tackled as soon as possible and debated at Nedlac. It appears that no one at this point has taken up these issues, which are already a reality.
Over and above this, I have anecdotally found that individuals working from home apply for less sick leave and in fact, are willing to even forego leave. The law currently states that people must have their leave and cannot trade it in for payment. However, those working from home have found they can work from any venue and even from places where they normally take their holidays.
The Department ought to consider the change of circumstances so that people could cash in leave as opposed to merely forfeiting it.
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