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Oliphant said she had prepared a proposal to increase the threshold earlier. According to her it was requested by Business, Organised Labour and Communities to put her proposal on ice amidst the global financial crisis that started in 2017.
 
In October last year the International Monetary Fund warned that the world economy is at risk of another financial meltdown, following the failure of governments and regulators to push through all the reforms needed to protect the system from reckless behaviour.
 
Steve Harris, General Secretary of UNTU, says the Union has been pushing for the BCEA threshold to be increased as all employees earning below it have the full protection of every section of the Act.
 
The BCEA govern respectively:
•             Limiting ordinary hours of work to 45 hours per week;
•             Payment for any overtime worked in excess of 45 hours;
•             Limitations on a compressed working week;
•             Provisions which allow for the averaging of a work week;
•             Mandatory provision of a meal interval of not less than 30 minutes for employees who work for longer than 5 hours;
•             Provisions which allow for certain mandatory minimum daily and weekly rest periods;
•             An employee is entitlement to increased pay for work on Sundays;
•             Payment of a mandatory allowance for employees who engage in night work;
•             Increased pay for employees who work on public holidays.
 
Harris says employees who earn in excess of the threshold are not entitled to the minimum protections contained in the Act.
 
UNTU is of the view that the increase is long overdue. The previous threshold was R193 805.00 before Oliphant increased it on 1 July 2014.

 
Issued by The United National Transport Union