Employment and Labour minister Thulas Nxesi recently published three important legal developments affecting South African employers and employees:The Code of Practice for Managing Exposure to Sars-CoV-2 in the Workplace 2022;Below Tracy van der Colff and Kirsty Gibson at legal firm Baker McKenzie outlined some of the key changes and issues to be aware of.
Requirements for employers to use a public employment service or private employment agency to assist employees to recruit suitable candidates;The criteria and procedure to apply for an exemption from the minister;Introduction of digital labour platforms and workers The person performing the services is classified as a worker, which is defined as “any person who works for another and who receives, or is entitled to receive, any payment for that work, whether in money or in-kind”.
Among other things, the Covid code reiterates an employer’s right to implement a vaccine mandate and clarifies the grounds on which employees can refuse the vaccine. The Covid Code creates a legal framework for managing the pandemic and its impact on the workplace. The rules now make specific provisions for employers to ascertain their employees’ vaccination status.
The employer may then request that the employee be medically assessed to confirm their medical status, which the employer must pay for. Employers must reasonably accommodate employees who refuse vaccination. In March 2022, the minister published the Code of Good Practice on the Prevention and Elimination of Violence and Harassment in the World of Work in the Government Gazette.