Challenges for Business Owners

While this time of year requires all hands on deck, you can only require employees to work overtime if their contract allows for this. 

Overtime is voluntary and may only be worked by agreement between employer and employee. Maximum permissible overtime is 3 hours on any one day or 10 hours in any 1 week.  Remuneration must be at 1, 5 times the normal wage rate. 

Overtime on short notice.

Overtime is not compulsory; employees can refuse to work overtime on short notice. However, an employee cannot refuse to work overtime if the work which is required to be done must be done without delay owing to circumstances for which the employer could not reasonably have been expected to make provision. For example, a sudden breakdown of equipment, and which cannot be performed by employees during the ordinary hours of work.  (Section 6 (2) BCEA):

You should therefore check whether there is a specific clause in the contracts you use which states that the employee agrees to opt out of the working time limit. However, even with this provision, the employee has the right to change their mind and give notice to that effect.

For more HR-related issues over the festive season, have a look at our latest newsletter here.