So, Are You Compliant?

Over half of South Africa’s hospitality establishments do not comply with Department of Labour legislation, placing it on government’s list of 'high risk' and 'problematic' sectors for the 2010/2011 financial year.

Zondeki says that during inspections, the department discovered that employers were not aware of the annual increases in terms of minimum wages and 49 per cent of respondents said they either were not aware of, or could not afford to pay, minimum wages to their staff.

Don Leffler, Director of The School of Business, says the tourism and hospitality sectors are largely made up of small businesses operating in very competitive markets with low margin returns on investments. “Many of these businesses, including one-man travel agents, tour operators, guides, B&Bs, restaurants and pubs, operate under the radar and, in some instances, either have limited knowledge of, or deliberately defy labour legislation requirements,” he says. “It is difficult to monitor and enforce compliance on these small businesses, particularly those operating outside of the main cities.” Leffler says that while he believes the department’s statistics to be accurate, established medium to large businesses will be close to 100% compliant.

Interestingly, the draft National Tourism Sector Strategy identified the importance of making the tourism sector more attractive to job seekers as one of its key focus areas. In an environment where salaries are often below minimum wage, this could be difficult to achieve. Leffler says the retention of quality staff is hampered by generally poor training and development, career progression and salary levels. “Tourism is not perceived as a career of choice and this needs to be addressed so that the best people are attracted to the sector, retained and continually developed to meet changing requirements,” he adds.