Amended Labour Relations Act

(1)           The Minister may, at the request of a bargaining council, appoint any person as the designated agent of that bargaining council to promote, monitor and enforce compliance with any collective agreement concluded in that bargaining council.

(1A)       A designated agent may –

(a)          secure compliance with the council’s collective agreements by –

(i)             publicising the contents of the agreements;

(ii)           conducting inspections;

(iii)          investigating complaints; or

(iv)         any other means the council may adopt; and

(b)          perform any other functions that are conferred or imposed on the agent by the council.

(2)                A bargaining council must provide each designated agent with a certificate signed by the secretary of the bargaining council stating that the agent has been appointed in terms of this Act as a designated agent of that bargaining council.

(3)                Within the registered scope of the bargaining council, a designated agent of the bargaining council has all the powers set out in Schedule 10.

(4)                The bargaining council may cancel the certificate provided to a designated agent in terms of subsection (2) and the agent then ceases to be a designated agent of the bargaining council and must immediately surrender the certificate to the secretary of the bargaining council.

33A.     Enforcement of collective agreements by bargaining councils

(1)           Despite any other provision in this Act, a bargaining council may monitor and enforce compliance with its collective agreements in terms of this section or a collective agreement concluded by the parties to the council.

(2)           For purposes of this section, a collective agreement is deemed to include –

(a)          any basic condition of employment which in terms of section 49(1) of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act constitutes a term of employment of any employee covered by the collective agreement; and

(b)          the rules of any fund or scheme established by the bargaining council.

(3)           A collective agreement in terms of this section may authorise a designated agent appointed in terms of section 33 to issue a compliance order requiring any person bound by that collective agreement to comply with the collective agreement within a specified period.

(4)           (a) The council may refer any unresolved dispute concerning compliance with any provision of a collective agreement to arbitration by an arbitrator appointed by the council.

(b)          If a party to an arbitration in terms of this section, that is not a party to the council, objects to the appointment of an arbitrator in terms of paragraph (a), the Commission, on request by the council, must appoint an arbitrator.

(c)           If an arbitrator is appointed in terms of subparagraph (b) –

(i)             the Council remains liable for the payment of the arbitrator’s fee; and

(ii)           the arbitration is not conducted under the auspices of the Commission.

(5)           An arbitrator conducting an arbitration in terms of this section has the powers of a commissioner in terms of section 142, read with the changes required by the context.

(6)           Section 138, read with the changes required by the context, applies to any arbitration conducted in terms of this section.

(7)           An arbitrator acting in terms of this section may determine any dispute concerning the interpretation or application of a collective agreement.

(8)           An arbitrator conducting an arbitration in terms of this section may make an appropriate award, including -

(a)          ordering any person to pay any amount owing in terms of a collective agreement;

(b)          imposing a fine for a failure to comply with a collective agreement in accordance with subsection (13);

(c)           charging a party an arbitration fee;

(d)          ordering a party to pay the costs of the arbitration;

(e)          confirming, varying or setting aside a compliance order issued by a designated agent in accordance with subsection (4)

(f)            any award contemplated in section 138(9).

(9)           Interest on any amount that a person is obliged to pay in terms of a collective agreement accrues from the date on which the amount was due and payable at the rate prescribed in terms of section 1 of the Prescribed Rate of Interest Act, 1975 (Act No. 55 of 1975), unless the arbitration award provides otherwise.

(10)       An award in an arbitration conducted in terms of this section is final and binding and may be enforced in terms of section 143.

(11)       Any reference in section 138 or 142 to the director must be read as a reference to the secretary of the bargaining council.

(12)       If an employer, upon whom a fine has been imposed in terms of this section, files an application to review and set aside an award made in terms of subsection (8), any obligation to pay a fine is suspended pending the outcome of the application.

(13)       (a)     The Minister may, after consulting NEDLAC, publish in the Government Gazette a notice that sets out the maximum fines that may be imposed by an arbitrator acing in terms of this section.

(b)          A notice in terms of paragraph (a) may specify the maximum fine that may be imposed –

(i)             for a breach of a collective agreement –

(aa)         not involving a failure to pay any amount of money;

(ba)         involving a failure to pay any amount of money; and

(ii)           for repeated breaches of the collective agreement contemplated in subparagraph (i).