Compliance with all labour legislation can now be automatically enforced throughout an organisation's entire labour supply chain thanks to a new and easy-to-use cloud-based vendor management tool developed by PRP Solutions (PRP), the productivity enhancement company that guarantees at least a 10% saving on payroll costs.
PRP chief executive Kriya Govender says the need for compliance with labour legislation has become even more critical in the light of Section 198A(3)(b) of the Amendments to the Labour Relations Act, which came into force this year. This amendment states that temporary workers earning less than around R17 000 a month are deemed to have the same rights and benefits as permanent employees of a labour broker's client after continuously working there for three months.
Compliance with this piece of legislation can prove to be a nightmare for companies dependent on temporary workers, especially those who outsource various aspects of their business and make use of more than one labour broker. "Ultimately, compliance is the responsibility of the client company and failure to comply could lead to penalties and costly arbitration," says Govender. "If, for example, a temp was erroneously assigned to the same client for more than three months and then re-assigned elsewhere, he or she could claim unfair dismissal and seek recourse through the courts."
Keeping track of who has worked where for how long can be a pain for labour brokers and their clients, often requiring a dedicated resource to do just that. The solution, according to Govender, is to automate compliance so that it is always enforced and non-negotiable.
"With our new tool, our clients can request their labour brokers to upload their temps on our people resource planning solution, which they can do with any device that has internet because the solution is cloud-based, and the tool will automatically pull data from any clocking device to track how long a temp has been working at a particular site. Now when a client requests labour, PRP automatically ensures that only those temps that are below the three month threshold are assigned to it."
He says that PRP's new tool is designed to help clients comply with legislation and to maintain the flexibility of being able to staff up and down in order to meet targets and deadlines. "When a temp is close to reaching the three-month threshold, PRP will send a pre-emptive notification and the company can then decide whether to employ him or her permanently."
Additional compliance requirements can also be enforced such as where workers are required to produce regular clearance certificates, such as annual driver's licence renewals and medical clearance certificates. These certificates can be attached to the worker's record and PRP will send reminders to the supervisors when they are due for renewal. Once certification has expired, PRP can even instruct the clocking device to bar entry to the workplace, forcing non-compliant employees to sort out their paperwork immediately before being allowed to return to work.
Govender says this latest offering is just one of many ways PRP is seeking to add value to companies through improved people resource planning. "PRP enhances workforce productivity through real-time, live exception reporting giving managers a snapshot of its employees at any given time, which allows for pro-active rather than re-active decisions and the ability to intervene immediately to achieve productivity gains. Furthermore, compliance with the law and a company's human resource policies is non-negotiable through automated rules which, given the uncertainty of the application of the new labour laws, is a benefit that has resonated strongly with our existing client base."
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