Labour Department 'breaking own rules'

It is a department tasked with enforcing the rights of workers but now the Department of Labour is being dragged to court for failing to adhere to its own rules.

By Zoë Mahopo

10 Dec 2013

The Labour Centre at 145 Commissioner Street, Johannesburg has been closed. Image:Galetti

The court case is in connection with the Johannesburg Labour Centre, housed in the Nedbank Mall building on Commissioner Street that was closed for the second time last month after workers refused to work there.

People who use the centre for UIF claims and other services have been referred to other centres in Gauteng. The Public Servants Association (PSA) instituted the court case against the department last week.

According to court papers, the workers are demanding the revival of the prohibition notice served on the department in October. The notice, issued by a labour inspector, prohibited the department from occupying the building until all repairs were completed.

The notice was overturned by the chief inspector, who then replaced it with an improvement notice.

Workers were then issued with a letter by provincial chief director Kenny Fick, instructing them to return to the building on 26 November. They refused to do so, saying that they do not want to risk their health.

PSA provincial manager Monica Venter said the department's attitude was "shocking". "The Department of Labour, the custodian of the Labour Relations Act and the Occupational Health and Safety Act, is breaking the very rules it is supposed to enforce," alleged Venter

PSA spokesman Henry Hall said the department has 10 days to oppose the application. So far the department had not responded.

Source: Sowetan via I-Net Bridge

Source: I-Net Bridge

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