COVID-19 Lockdown: Regulations gazetted for restaurants and other sectors

… navigating through the COVID-19 LOCKDOWN scandal …

RESTAURANTS AND OTHER SECTORS

REGULATIONS GAZETTED

Dear employer

On Monday, 29 June 2020, the Department of Tourism published the regulations which, the employers falling under this sector, must adhere to in order to operate under Alert Level 3.

The regulations cover the following business activities:

• restaurants, fast food outlets and coffee shops;
• lodges, bed and breakfast, time-share facilities, resorts and guest houses;
• self-drive excursions;
• conference and meeting venues; and
• casinos.

These regulations do not replace the obligations placed on all employers in terms of the regulations issued by the Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) but enhances them.

Employers in these sectors must therefore adhere to both sets of regulations.

In terms of the DEL requirements employers who employ less than 10 employees will only have to do a risk assessment, which will in essence be complied with if all the sector specific measures have been implemented, and develop a basic workplace plan – in addition to the measures set out in the sector specific guidelines. Incorporation of the sector specific workplace measures into the plan should suffice.

Employers in this sector would also be required to comply with guidelines by the Department of Health in the event of a Covid-19 infection or suspected Covid-19 infection in the workplace. In the instance of employers with less than 10 employees, the regulations only determine that the employer may not allow an employee who displays Covid-19 symptoms to come to work and must contact the Covid-19 Hotline on 0800 02 9999 and instruct employees to act in accordance with the communicated instructions.

Employers in this sector with 10 or more employees will be required to comply with all the relevant DEL and Department of Health regulations and guidelines, as well as the sector specific regulations.

NEASA has prepared a generic TOOLKIT which employers may use as a basis for compliance. Employers in the sectors will need to enhance this toolkit, as required, in order to comply with the specific regulations for the sector.

The additional regulations, in the main, deal with issues pertaining to sanitisation, social distancing, screening, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and record keeping and are, to a large extent, self-explanatory.

The regulations are applicable with immediate effect and any business falling within its scope may open with immediate effect, provided that all measures in terms of all the regulations have been complied with.

Please click here to view the regulations.

Members are advised to contact their NEASA regional office in this regard.

NEASA 24/7 NATIONAL HOTLINE: 086 016 3272
legalhotline@neasa.co.za
(please have your membership number at hand)

For more information:
NEASA Media Department
media@neasa.co.za