Payment Of Administration And Dispute Levies Cannot Be Voluntary

INDUSTRY ALERT
MEIBC

PAYMENT OF ADMINISTRATION AND DISPUTE LEVIES
CANNOT BE VOLUNTARY

Dear Industry Employer

The MEIBC recently published a circular claiming that employers and employees who are not party to the Administration and Dispute Levy Agreement are at liberty to continue paying these levies to the Council should they wish to do so.

The circular by the MEIBC is at the very least misleading and at worst encouraging employers to act unlawfully.

The fact of the matter is that the period of extension of the Registration and Administration Expenses Agreement expired on 30 June 2016. The effect of this is that the legal basis on which employers were allowed to make these deductions from their employees has fallen away.

Employers are by law only entitled to make deductions from employees if they have agreed to it in writing or if legislation compels them to do so. In light of the fact that the period of extension of the Administration Agreement has expired, any deductions made by employers in respect of these levies would be unlawful and may create a liability in the form of an unlawful deduction claim from their employees.

Jaco Swart
National Collective Bargaining Co-ordinator