Legal updates and opinions
Authors
News / News
Directive on compensation for workplace-acquired COVID-19
by Jacques van Wyk, Director; Andre van Heerden, Senior Associate; and Thabisa Yantolo, Candidate Attorney
On 23 July 2020 the Minister of Employment and Labour, Thembelani Waltermade Nxesi, published a directive on compensation for workplace-acquired Covid-19 (“Directive“). The Directive is published in terms of the regulations issued by the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs in terms of the National Disaster Management Act 57 of 2002. The Directive replaces the Notice issued on 23 March 2020 (“Notice“) in terms of the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act 130 of 1993 (“COIDA“).
While the Directive largely reiterates the provisions of the Notice it does make some notable changes. The notable changes include the following:
- The Directive refers to “employees” rather than “workers” which was referred to in the Notice. The term “employees” limits the scope of application of the Directive (i.e. the term ‘workers’ has been used elsewhere to refer to more than just employees). This is also in line with COIDA, as COIDA is only applicable to employees.
- Healthcare employees conducting cardio-respiratory function testing are now categorised as employees in a very high exposure risk occupation.
- In determining the risk of exposure in occupations, the Directive identifies close contact as being within 1.5 metres of either, people who may be infected with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus 2 (“SARS-Cov-2“) (medium risk exposure occupation) or the general public (low risk exposure occupation). This is opposed to the 2 metres previously referred to in the Notice.
- The Directive clarifies that the Compensation Fund does not provide compensation for unconfirmed cases which are still being investigated.
- For employees who are self-isolating or in self-quarantine, employers must comply with the obligations in the Covid-19 Temporary Employee / Employer Relief Scheme (“TERS“) directive or the Consolidated Covid-19 Directive on Health and Safety in the Workplace.
The Directive may be accessed at: https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/202007/43540gen387.pdf
Latest News
Labour brokers – some certainty at last
National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa v Assign Services & others By Jacques van Wyk, Director ISSUE Who is [...]
Temporary Employment Service – Judgement
On 26 July 2018, the Constitutional Court upheld the decision of the Labour Appeal Court in National Union of Metalworkers [...]
TAKE NOTE, THE COMPETITION AMENDMENT BILL, 2018
On 12 July 2018, it was announced that the Competition Amendment Bill, 2018 ("Bill") was officially introduced to the National [...]
Director, Neil Kirby comments on NHI and Medical Schemes Amendment Bill post the briefing by Health Minister, Aaron Motsoaledi
"The Minister of Health has described the advent of national health insurance or NHI as the land issue in the [...]
South Africa: A South African Perspective on Restructuring Mechanisms
Director, Eric Levenstein and Senior Associate, Lara von Wildenrath contribute to The European, Middle Eastern and African Restructuring Review 2018.This [...]
The National Minimum Wage Bill
By Jacques van Wyk, Director and Yusha Davidson, Candidate Attorney INTRODUCTION The NMW Bill has been passed by the National [...]
