Your wellbeing Your wellbeing is their priorityis their priority

Trained professionals are avail-able to help you cope with per-sonal- and work related issues. They are available 24/7 – they will treat your issues as confi-dential – they want to help, they can help. Make use of these services – you owe it to yourself, your family and close colleagues. Contact number - 0800 205 333 Counselling is also available via email - info@wellwork.co.za

Agency shop agreementsAgency shop agreements Registered trade unions exist to serve the interests of their members, and they are sustained by fees deducted from their members' wages. However, because they bargain on behalf of all em-ployees in the category they represent, any improvements in wages or service conditions they are able to secure benefit all the employees in that category.

A representative trade union and an employer or employers' organisation may conclude a collective agreement known as an agency shop agreement in which the employer agrees to deduct an agency fee from the wages of employees who are not members of the union to help pay the costs the union incurs when bargaining on behalf of non-members.

A union must be representative to do this. This means it must, on its own or together with another union, have a majority of the employees in a workplace, sector or area as members. To be binding, an agency agreement may not compel non-members to join the union; the fee must be the equivalent of or less than the contribution paid by a union member in similar circumstances; the money must be administered sepa-rately; and no part of the fee may be paid to a political party or used for any purpose other than advancing and protecting the socio-economic interests of the employees. A conscientious objector may ask the em-ployer to pay the amount deducted for an agency fee into a fund administered by the Department of La-bour.

http://www.legalcity.net/Index.cfm?fuseaction=RIGHTS.article&ArticleID=5533898

from the desk of that union guy…

I watched the movie National Treasure again recently and in

there is a line by Nicholas Cage’s character quoting from the

American Declaration of Independence which says, “… those who

have the ability to take action have the responsibility to take action.” It remind-

ed me of why we as a union exist and why faithful men and women put up their

hands to represent staff and members, often at great cost to themselves.

As NTEU’s BEC at NMMU, fairness and the principles of justice are what we re-

gard highly when we consider the myriad of issues that come across the union

desk on a weekly basis. In most cases this would work out in constant engage-

ments with management to ensure that your rights are not infringed upon and

that within your working environment you have the space to live out the values

our institution espouses. Apart from this though, there is also an obligation on

us to live out our social responsibility, and so in this edition you will see articles

and pictures along those lines. Having the responsibility to take action is not

always about fighting, sometimes it’s simply about giving back.

Grant Abbott

NTEU Chairperson

The NTEU at NMMU closed FB group has been active for a couple of months now and is steadily growing.

Social networking is a very important part of many people’s lives and work places. The golden rules are not to name, blame or shame.

You’ll find regular and interesting updates on the wall of this group – consider joining us.

Note that even though we receive many requests to join this closed group, it is exclusively for NTEU members. Please join this group if you are an NTEU member!

And so another year And so another year is drawing to a closeis drawing to a close

It feels like fairly recently that the champagne corks announced the New Year… that the 2013 drawer was emp-ty and looking somewhat ‘pitiful’.

Strange how quickly time goes by though – especially as

you get older. What have you put in the 2014 drawer so far? Did you have positive experi-ences? Did you miss some oppor-tunties? Or are you harbouring a grudge or two; or struggling to come to terms with the loss of someone who is no longer there? Did you add some joy and thankful-ness, a dash of compassion per day? Did you give of your precious time to care for others, to listen to them and help them lighten their load? Did you gather special memories and memento’s that will make you smile every time you take them from the drawer? Have you gathered enough to ease the load when times get tough? Have you met all your goals for 2014? Make the reminder of 2014 count. Don’t get disheartened. Take courage; make a decision to approach the re-mainder of this year with a positive attitude. There is still time. Live in grateful expectation and do what your hands find to do. And do it with pas-sion and to the best of your ability.

NTEU Coordinating staff

Joining the union whenJoining the union when

disciplinary action loomsdisciplinary action looms

We have noticed a trend developing of non-members being re-

ferred to the union for representation in disciplinaries. The sad

truth is that such a member cannot demand to be represented be-

cause they are simply not members of NTEU.

Under normal circumstances we encourage our membership to

approach fellow colleagues on an on-going basis and to encourage

them to join the union, but we cannot have a situation where non-

members only join when disciplinary action looms….

The principle that applies is very simple. If you have a motor vehi-

cle, the vehicle is covered by a certain insurance company, you are

involved in an accident and then you can submit a claim. If not,

the insurers will simply not accept the claim.

Likewise, you cannot expect union representation if you are not a

fully paid-up member of NTEU. In many of our working environ-

ments, the situations are volatile. People need protection. That is

what the union is there for. But then staff must belong to the un-

ion.

Resignation before disciplinary actionResignation before disciplinary action Nicolene Erasmus and Jan du Toit

It seems to be an increasingly frequent occurrence that, when an employee is faced with disciplinary action for an act of mis-conduct, the employee elects to resign from the employment before the disciplinary hearing takes place. They feel that a res-ignation “looks better on my record” than does a dismissal and they think that the resignation will make the allegations disap-pear.

These resignations by the employee are seldom in the face of a minor matter - it is usually a serious charge, such as theft or fraud, unauthorised possession of company property, absence without leave (perhaps not for the first time), extreme insubor-dination or something of a serious nature. In other words, an offense of such gravity that dismissal is likely to result.

Employees must remember that when they tend a letter of resignation, it does not terminate the contract immediately. A con-tractual period of notice still applies and therefore the employee remains in the employ of the employer until that date is reached. The Employer can still go ahead with the disciplinary proceedings. Thus, a resignation by an employee when faced with disciplinary action does not necessarily “look better on the employee's record,” because the employee's record will still contain details of the alleged offences, details of the disciplinary hearing and the outcome.

The Basic Conditions of Employment Act contains no provisions that prevent an employee from resigning when faced with dis-ciplinary action, and similarly the Act contains no provision giving employers the power to refuse to accept a resignation.

The question is what are the options of the employer in such an instance? Obviously, the employer has concluded that an act of misconduct has occurred and completed the investigation. Upon receiving the resignation, the employer immediately con-cludes that the employee is guilty. Until such time as the employee can dispute that evidence, or put forward a justifiable de-fence to the charges, the employer will continue to believe, based on evidence that he has, that the employee is guilty.

Employees who resign, and subsequently failed to appear at the disciplinary hearing, must remember that it is then construed that the employee has waived their right to present a defence against the charges. The employee then cannot afterwards go to the CCMA, complaining that they were dismissed without being given the opportunity to present a defence.

If the employee resigns from the employment, and does not appear at the disciplinary hearing, there is only one possible out-come. The hearing will continue in the absence of the employee, and based on the evidence placed before him, the Chairper-son will arrive at the verdict of guilty. The employer is fully entitled to proceed with the disciplinary hearing even if the employ-ee has resigned.

For more information please visit www.labourguide.co.za

EMPLOYMENT EQUITY – do you know? * That an employer may not create an absolute barrier which prevents an appli-cant from competing fairly for a position or promotion;

* That an employer cannot summarily re-move an applicant from a shortlist based on race;

* That an applicant - who meets the meet the minimum requirements of an adver-tised post - must be considered fairly for shortlisting and interviewing.