The KZN Department of Employment and Labour were part of a blitz operation inspecting businesses in the textile and clothing industry in the Mandeni area.
The Department of Employment and Labour on Monday started a three-day inspection blitz in partnership with the Department of Home Affairs, the Mandeni Metro Police, SAPS and the textile sector bargaining council in the Ilembe District Municipality.
On Tuesday, the joint inter-departmental team embarked on the second day of a blitz inspection to test compliance on labour matters in relation to working conditions, compliance to minimum wages, labour relations and occupational health and safety.
Acting department spokesperson Petunia Lessing, said the joint operation is mainly focused on the textile and clothing industries in line with adherence to international labour standards to ensure that fundamental rights and principles are respected and that workplaces are kept safe and healthy.
“Our inspections are not only about compliance alone. As we carry out our planned inspections the emphasis is also on advocacy,” said department chief inspector Milly Ruiters.
The department's chief director of provincial operations, Edward Khambula, said the clothing and textile sector was struggling to meet standards of compliance with labour legislation.
Khambula said there is a collective agreement regulating the sector in the area of Mandeni, however, “once you fail to pay the national minimum wage we intervene.”
Khambula cautioned that the inspections can be done without prior notifications.
“We understand challenges that go with unannounced inspections. Inspectors can still enter the premises without notification. They have powers as entailed in the legislation,” he said.
In terms of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) a Labour inspector appointed under section 63(1) may promote, monitor and enforce compliance with an employment law.
“The labour legislation further says in order to monitor and enforce compliance with an employment law, a labour inspector may – without warrant or notice – at any reasonable time enter: any workplace or any other place where an employer carries on business or keeps employment records, that is not a home; any premises used for training in terms of the Manpower Training Act, 1981 (Act No. 56 of 1981); any private employment office registered under section 15 of the Guidance and Placement Act, 1981 (Act No. 62 of 1981).”
Lessing said it is a criminal offence to interfere with the duties of the inspector.
She said a number of employers were found wanting as they tried to make up excuses and adjust their records to “dupe” inspectors on the first day of blitz inspections.
She said some employers complained that they were not informed of the visit in an attempt to sidestep inspections of their premises.
“Some of the employers were guilty of conniving by assisting their workers to elope from the premises,” she said.
On its Facebook page, the department said: “One of the textile factories that have inspected has been found to be in breach of a number of labour legislations as well as the Fire Brigade Services Act. It has been found that employees are working with hazardous chemicals without proper PPE; the labelling of the chemicals has not been translated to a local language; employees work as long as 12 hours with only a 30 (minutes) lunch break; to name but a few non-compliance issues.”
The Mandeni blitz inspections, which is part of a national initiative that will continue until March 2024, will end on Wednesday.
The Mercury