The Coronavirus: If any employee is placed under quarantine by the employer, should the employee be required to take sick leave?
If a medical doctor places an employee in quarantine, the employee should receive a medical certificate and in such circumstances, the employee will be on sick leave.
In the case of compulsory quarantine (ie quarantine required and enforced by the employer), the employee will not be on sick leave unless a medical certificate has been issued to the employee placing the employee in quarantine. An employer may require an employee to be quarantined if the employee recently traveled to an affected country or if the employee displays symptoms of the illness whilst at work. The employer could consider such an employee to be on special paid leave away from the office (depending on the nature of the work performed by such an employee). As an alternative to placing the employee on any type of leave, the employer could make it possible for the employee to work from home. The employer may need to put certain measures in place or assist such an employee to work from home if that is the arrangement. If it is not possible for the employee to work from home, the employer will not be able to deduct the period of quarantine as sick leave or annual leave as it was made compulsory by the employer. This will be a form of special paid leave that is over and above any other type of leave.
Contact SEIFSA COVID-19 Hotline
The Coronavirus: How should an employer manage employees who travel out of South Africa at this time?
The employer should issue clear travel guidelines to its employees on international travel, particularly to countries affected by Covid-19. The employer should distinguish between employees travelling for business or personal reasons.
Given the scale of the illness and if it is practical, the employer may elect to place a moratorium on business travel until such time as Covid-19 is contained. If this is not possible, a moratorium should be placed on business travel to affected countries.
It may be more challenging to regulate personal/holiday travel by employees. Employees should be encouraged not to travel to affected countries. Importantly, employees who nevertheless choose do so should not be allowed to immediately return to work after such travel. Such employees should be required to self-isolate (compulsory quarantine) for at least 14 days. Employees should be informed that they must take all reasonable steps to avoid exposure to the illness which may mean cancelling or postponing international travel until Covid-19 is contained.
The employer should also bear in mind that travel by employees to countries which are currently unaffected by Covid-19 could still pose a risk of infection as such countries may become affected at any time. In any event, at this stage, the risk of infection is high given the nature of travel, exposure to different people of different nationalities particularly on flights with multiple legs.
It is advisable for employers to consider requesting all employees to disclose international travel (to all countries) undertaken by them (or any person who they live with) since 1 February 2020. This may assist the employer with its risk assessment to determine the likelihood of contamination in the workplace.
Contact SEIFSA COVID-19 Hotline
The Coronavirus: What practical steps can an employer take to ensure that the workplace is safeguarded from Covid-19?
As an initial step, the employer should conduct a comprehensive risk assessment to determine the likelihood of contamination in the workplace. This assessment should include a contingency and business continuity plan should there be an outbreak of the illness. At this stage, given that South Africa only has one confirmed case of Covid-19, the risk of contamination is low.
However, employers should consider the following proactive steps given the scale of the illness globally –
- Follow health advice and information: the employer should follow health advice from the WHO (as an international source) and the Department of Health and the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (as local sources).
- Communicate with employees: the employer should consistently provide updates on Covid-19 to employees and its approach at work regarding attendance and preventing the spread of infection. The employer may also wish to display posters that provide information on the illness and hygiene.
- Prevent the spread of infection: the employer should consider that there are adequate facilities for employees to wash and/or sanitise their hands regularly within the workplace. If it becomes necessary, the employer may introduce a designated area in the workplace where employees may self-isolate if they experience symptoms whilst at work. The WHO has advised that, in countries where the illness has started spreading, employees with a mild cough or low-grade fever (37.3 or more) should be encouraged to stay at home and seek medical attention immediately.
- Identify vulnerable workers: Covid-19 poses a greater risk to employees with weakened immune systems and long-term health conditions. Vulnerable workers include pregnant employees and disabled employees. Employers should pay special attention to such employees.
- Update emergency contact information: employees should be required to review and update their emergency contact information.
Contact SEIFSA COVID-19 Hotline
The Coronavirus: From a health & safety perspective, what legal obligations does an employer have in light of the global outbreak of Covid-19?
The Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 places an express obligation on the employer to maintain a working environment that is safe and healthy. On the issue of a healthy working environment, the employer must ensure that the workplace is free from any risk to the health of its employees as far as it is reasonably practicable. Within the context of Covid-19, there is a clear obligation on the employer to manage the risk of contamination in the workplace.
Practically, the employer can ensure a healthy working environment by ensuring that the workplace is clean and hygienic, promoting regular hand-washing by employees, promoting good respiratory hygiene by employees and keeping employees informed on developments related to Covid-19.
Contact SEIFSA COVID-19 Hotline
The Coronavirus: What are the common symptoms associated with Covid-19?
Covid-19 is a highly transmissible illness. The symptoms of Covid-19 initially mimic the symptoms of the common cold. General symptoms of Covid-19 are associated with the respiratory system and they include a fever, coughing and shortness of breath.
If left untreated or not treated correctly, infection can lead to pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and, in the worst case, death.
Contact SEIFSA COVID-19 Hotline
The Coronavirus: What is the coronavirus?
The World Health Organisation (WHO) describes coronaviruses as a "family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases". At the end of 2019, a novel strain of the coronavirus (now known as Covid-19) broke out in Wuhan, China. Since the outbreak, the WHO has reported that there are over 98 000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 across almost 90 countries, including certain African countries (South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, Senegal, Nigeria, Algeria and Egypt). To date, approximately 3 400 people have died after contracting Covid-19.
At the end of January 2020, the WHO declared the outbreak of Covid-19 as a public health emergency of international concern.
Contact SEIFSA COVID-19 Hotline
SEIFSA Welcomes Reserve Bank’s Repo Rate Cut
Johannesburg, 19 March 2020 – The Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (SEIFSA) welcomes the South African Reserve Bank’s decision to cut the repo rate by 100 basis points to 5.25 percent, the Federation’s Economist, Marique Kruger, said this afternoon.
Speaking after the Governor’s announcement, Ms Kruger said the lowered interest rate is encouraging and has the potential of stimulating consumer demand and boosting production towards better growth.
“The decision provides some relief for businesses which continue to operate in a tough economic environment, underpinned by non-descript domestic growth, subdued demand, high unemployment, volatile output, high unit labour costs and poor business activity levels,” Ms Kruger said.
She added that the monetary policy intervention is welcome, especially given the negative Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in the third and fourth quarters of 2019, which effectively catapulted the South African economy into a technical recession. The decisionby the Reserve Bank is likely to stimulate demand and improve an ever-weakening domestic outlook
Ms Kruger said the lowered interest rate will benefit key industries which are drivers of domestic demand and supply patterns for the metals and engineering sector, in the process boosting overall demand for its intermediate products.
Moreover, it would help struggling companies to mitigate production costs, offset volatile petrol prices and losses arising from costly intermediate imports, while also providing a basis for an improved differential for businesses faced with fluctuating selling price inflation.
SEIFSA is a National Federation representing 21 independent employer Associations in the metals and engineering industries, with a combined membership of 1600 companies employing around 200 000 employees. The Federation was formed in 1943 and its member companies range from giant steel-making corporations to micro-enterprises employing fewer than 50 people
Environmentally-Responsible Companies Encouraged To Submit Entries For Excellence Awards
Johannesburg, 22 March 2020 – The Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (SEIFSA) has encouraged manufacturing companies that have gone out of their way to successfully implement the necessary steps to conserve the environment to submit entries for its prestigious Excellence Awards.
SEIFSA Chief Executive Officer Nyatsumba said companies have a responsibility to do everything possible to ensure that they not only use the earth’s natural resources in their pursuits of profit, but also that they continuously rehabilitate and restore the environment to its natural form in order to preserve it for the generations to come. He said the SEIFSA Awards for Excellence, launched in 2015, celebrate companies which take seriously the ecological challenges that confront the world today and put in place essential measures to ensure that the natural environment is conserved.
Mr Nyatsumba said that the Environmental Stewardship Award will go to a company that has successfully implemented greening initiatives in its day-to-day business operations between July 2018 and December 2019.
Other awards that form the seven categories of the SEIFSA Awards for Excellence are:
- The Most Innovative Company of the Year, which will be awarded to a company that showed the best level of innovation in research and development or production;
- The Most Transformed Company of the Year Award will be received by a company that showed the highest transformation level in the composition of its Board of Directors, Executive Management and Managerial Team (this award category pits companies employing fewer than 100 people against those of similar size, and companies employing more than 100 companies against others of similar size);
- The Best CSI Award will be presented to a company whose corporate social investment programme/s had a major impact on the lives of its beneficiaries.
- The company rated the highest in customer service performance between July 2018 and December 2019 will receive the Customer Service Award of the Year;
- An award will be made to the company that trained the highest number of artisans between July 2018 and December 2019;
- The Health and Safety Award of the Year will be awarded to a company with the best legal compliance record in Health and Safety or the lowest Lost-Time Injury Frequency rate within the same period.
Mr Nyatsumba encouraged manufacturers operating in the metals and engineering sector to submit their entries for the seven categories before the deadline date of 28 April 2020.
The Awards are open to all companies in the metals and engineering sector, and not only those that are members of Associations affiliated to SEIFSA. Awards winners will be honoured at a ceremony that will take place at Summer Place in Boksburg on 28 May 2020.
SEIFSA is a National Federation representing 21 independent employer Associations in the metals and engineering industries, with a combined membership of 1600 companies employing around 200 000 employees. The Federation was formed in 1943 and its member companies range from giant steel-making corporations to micro-enterprises employing fewer than 50 people.350
KEEN TO BE PART OF TRANSNET’S INDUSTRY DAY?
State-owned logistics company Transnet is planning to host an Industry Day for companies in the metals and engineering sector. During such a day, Transnet SOC Ltd plans to share its capital infrastructure plans and to establish what expertise exists in the country to supply relevant products and/or services to the company.
Are you keen to be part of the Transnet Industry Day? If so, please send us the details of you company (name, what products it manufactures or services it renders, etc.) so that we can compile a list and send it to the State-owned company. Transnet will issue invitations to interested companies.
Please send your company’s details, at your earliest convenience, to Lerato@seifsa.co.za.
Inaugural BRICS Manufacturing Conference To Take Place in May
Johannesburg, 18 March 2020 – An inaugural, one-day BRICS Manufacturing Conference is scheduled to take place in Johannesburg on 21 May, Conference organisers said this morning.
Kaizer Nyatsumba, Chairman of the Manufacturing Working Group of the SA Chapter of the BRICS Business Council (BBC), said the conference is born out of the need to help embattled South African manufacturers to make better use of the country’s existing relations with its BRICS counterparts.
The conference – which is expected to be attended by captains of industry, policy makers and public sector representatives, amongst many other stakeholders – , also aims to assist South African manufacturers take better advantage of the opportunities presented by BRICS amidst the economic slump that the economy, in general and domestic manufacturers in particular, currently find themselves in.
“The manufacturing industry’s contribution to the economy has been declining over the past two decades as a result of cheap imports from Asian economies, lacklustre domestic demand, rising operational and input costs and, most recently, frequent power shortages.
“It goes without saying, therefore, that domestic manufacturers should look beyond the South African borders if they are to survive and, grow. It is against this backdrop that we decided to host the conference that will seek to investigate how manufacturers can leverage the BBC manufacturing working group (MWG); and discuss, among others, progress on MWG Projects and how they will advance the course of manufacturing in the country,” Mr Nyatsumba said.
He said that Trade and Industry Minister Ebrahim Patel is expected to deliver the Conference’s opening address, while Aspen Pharmacare Group Senior Executive and BBC SA member Stavros Nicolaou,; Manufacturing Circe CEO Phillipa Rodseth,; NAAMSA CEO Michael Mabasa,; IDC CEO and BBC Financial Working Group Chairman TP Nchocho, Department of Trade and Industry Deputy Director-General Ilse Karg and IBM SA Chief Operations Officer Ziaad Suleman, will take part in plenary sessions.
Some of the topics that will be discussed at the conference include “South African Manufacturers and the BRICS Business Council: The Manufacturing Working Group – Does It Matter? Progress Report on Priority MWG Projects”,; “A Focus on Some of the Planned New Special Economic Zones”, and “How South African Business Can Leverage BRICS Membership Better”.
Mr Nyatsumba encouraged manufacturing industry’s stakeholders to attend the conference also in order to make a contribution towards hammering out the necessary solutions that will reverse the fortunes of the industry and ultimately see it out of the doldrums.
Issued by:
Ollie Madlala
Communications Consultant
Tel: (011) 298 9411 / 082 602 1725
Email: ollie@seifsa.co.za