ARTICLE · 28 JUNE 2024

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Instructions To Work Overtime – Problematic Clauses In Employment Contracts

Consolidated Employers Organisation

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Working overtime is essential to an employer's operational requirements in specific industries within our labour-sphere. If an employee refuses to work overtime when their employer requests it...

South AfricaEmployment and HR

Working overtime is essential to an employer's operational requirements in specific industries within our labour-sphere. If an employee refuses to work overtime when their employer requests it, it is necessary to consider the lawfulness and reasonableness of the instruction.

Although the Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997 (BCEA) regulates the payment for overtime worked, it does not explicitly give the employer the right to instruct an employee to work overtime when it is not contractually agreed between the employer and employee. (This applies to employees or workers who earn less than the prescribed threshold of R 254 371,67 per annum as of 1 April 2024 (R 21 197,64 per month)).

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