Having processed payrolls for multiple clients over many years one of the things we have noticed is that often a reconciliation is not performed (or not performed well) between the processed payroll, the actual payments made to employees and third parties; and the general ledger recorded in an employer's books.
We would highly recommend employers perform a reconciliation between their payroll, general ledger and EFT payments. This is a critical control. Our accounting team is available to assist with this to offer a confidential, professional service, should you wish to take this route.
You may see the "for sale" signs up at our offices at 163 Umhlanga Rocks Drive.
On 1 September HRTorQue's Durban offices are moving to 6 Pencarrow Crescent in Pencarrow Business Park, La Lucia Ridge, Umhlanga.
We will notify all clients of these details closer to the time of our move.
HRTorQue will be closing on 22 December 2016, and will re-open on 9 January 2017.
During this time, we shall have a skeleton staff to cater for those clients we know will not be closing. We shall make special arrangements for staff to be available for them. During the shutdown time, we will monitor the [email protected] email address.
Are CCMA arbitration awards enforceable?
Editor: The Courts have ruled CCMA arbitration awards are enforceable. Given the uncertain nature of arbitrations, we would really encourage employers to improve their internal dismissal process and manager training to reduce the likelihood of their appearing before the CCMA.
An arbitration award issued by a commissioner is final and binding and it may be enforced as it was van order of the Labour Court in respect of which a writ has been issued, unless it is an advisory award.
An arbitration award may only be enforced in terms of section (1) if the director has certified that the arbitration award is an award contemplated in subsection (1).
The interpretation of section 143(1) and (3) came under scrutiny in MBS Transport CC V CCMA and Others (Case no J1807/15 – Labour Court), and CCMA v MBS Transport CC and Others (Case JI807/15- Labour Appeal Court).
Dustin Julius (the employee) approached the CCMA to have his award enforced in terms of section 143. Once the award was certified the employee delivered same to the relevant sheriff to execute on. The employer approached the Labour Court for an order to stay the enforcement of the award pending the review of the award. The Court made the following order: "It is declared that the CCMA does not have jurisdiction to issue writs of execution in respect of the arbitration awards issued by it. Having examined section 143, and taking into consideration that the CCMA was not a court of law; the court found that the CCMA was not assigned the statutory power to issue writs.
In the original enactment of section 143 an arbitration award could only be enforced by an application in terms of section 158 to the Labour Court.
This proved largely ineffective due to both time and cost factors.
The 2002 amendment of section 143 provided the opportunity to issue a writ at the Registrar of the Labour Court on the strength of the certified award by the CCMA.
The procedure still required the employee to approach the Labour Court.
The proper interpretation of the further amendment of section 143 in 2014, that came into operation at the beginning of 2015, provided that, once an award has been certified, it could be presented to the sheriff for execution. The LAC found that the words "as it was an order of the Labour Court" in section 143(1) created a fiction that the CCMA is at liberty to issue a writ, despite the fact that the CCMA is not a court of law.
The LAC held that the legislature intended to make it "easier, inexpensive, effective and accessible for a person to enforce a certified arbitration award".
For these reasons the LAC set aside the Labour Court's finding.
Any arbitration can lead to unusual results, which can now be enforced by the CCMA. It would be advisable to avoid this situation by making sure you manage your dismissal process to reduce the likelihood of being subject to the CCMA. Line managers should be trained to conduct proper pre-investigations. It might also be a good idea to make use of external specialists to chair formal disciplinary hearings of a complex nature.
Editor's Note: If you would like to talk to the Quattro team about your business structure, please email us at [email protected].
Consider checking first that you are suited to the excitement, rewards, risk and rough-and-tumble of entrepreneurship by taking the "Entrepreneurial Personality Profile" test on the Psychology Today website at http://psychologytoday.tests.psychtests.com/take_test.php?idRegTest=3204.
All done? Stage 3 is to choose the right trading vehicle to suit your particular needs and those of your new business. This is important – starting off with one legal entity and then later moving the business to another type risks all sorts of unhappy legal and tax issues (quite apart from all the obvious practical ones, like wading through piles of red tape at SARS, Telkom and your bank's "please hold, your call is important to us" call centre).
A sole proprietorship ("sole trader"). Only one owner – you are the business.
A partnership of 2 to 20 owners.
A private company ("Pty Ltd") for any number of owners ("shareholders"). (CC's – close corporations, still exist, but no new ones can be registered).
A business trust (also any number of owners).
There are other specialised types of companies available only to non-profit organisations (charities and the like), and to professionals (lawyers, accountants, doctors etc.) and various ways in which different legal entities can be combined but for the purposes of the newsletter we have only referred to the 4 most common options listed above.
It is important that you do not make any decisions without first seeking professional advice on the legal and tax implications of using each type of entity. QUATTRO ACCOUNTS is an accounting services company that specialises in assisting SMME's with bookkeeping, accounting, tax, company secretarial and advisory services.
We are proud to advise that in July 2013 Dave Beattie, our Tax Manager, completed his Masters in Business Administration (MBA).
Dave received a distinction for his dissertation titled 'Human Resources Outsourcing: A study of KwaZulu-Natal companies' use of outsourced human resources services, reasons and benefits'. This dissertation provides a unique insight into the rationale followed by SMME owners in dealing with the lack of skills in the human resources field, the cost of acquiring such skills, the time commitment required by managers / owners when dealing with HR issues and the level of respect for HR legislative compliance.
Importantly, the approach used to roll out an outsourcing strategy and the evaluation of the success or failure of such a strategy is researched to identify whether KZN SMMEs measure up to their counterparts elsewhere in South Africa and overseas. WELL DONE DAVE!
Welcome back to Nicky Hardwick (HR Division) following her maternity leave. Congratulations to Steven Richman (Payroll Division) on his marriage and to Tracy Reeves (Accountant) on the birth of her son.
We also welcome Iole Matthews as an experienced coach and facilitator with particular expertise in conflict resolution and mediation. As well as having 19 years of hands-on experience, Iole has a degree through the Faculty of Education at UNISA's Unit for Training and Development and has a Primary Certificate in Redundancy Coaching and Counselling and a Certificate in Coaching via the Centre for Coaching (UK) and Middlesex University.
Iole is an active member of CoMenSa (Coaches and Mentors of South Africa) as well as the ILM (Institute for Leadership and Management).