11 September- Labour

In today’s show we spoke to Paul Cooley – Labour Law Specialist and founder of Workplace Strategies. In the workplace, legally, an employer has every right to set standards of work ethics, behaviour and excellence. These standards must however be reasonable and must be made known to all employees. Many employees do not know their rights when it comes to laws in the workplace, so we were discussing unfair dismissals and disciplinary procedures. If you would like any information on the topic of disciplinary procedures or unfair dismissals, you can visit their website at www.workplacestratergies.co.za

We also heard from Sphetho Siyengo - Director of Buyolo Business Advisory Services. We were talking about the Black Economic Empowerment. According to the government, South Africa's policy of black economic empowerment (BEE) is not simply a moral initiative to redress the wrongs of the past. It is a pragmatic growth strategy that aims to realise the country's full economic potential. Black economic empowerment is not affirmative action, although employment equity forms part of it. Nor does it aim to take wealth from white people and give it to blacks. It is essentially a growth strategy, targeting the South African economy's weakest point: inequality. Sphetho is an expert in issues of transformation and his company offers workshops to help employers deal with the complex issues around Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment, so if your company is not yet BEE compliant then make sure you register for their next workshop that will take place at the University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB) in the Bellville Campus on Tuesday the 23rd of September, Thursday the 14th of October and the last one is on Thursday the 6th of November. For more information contact their offices on (021) 979 3233 or go to www.buyolo.co.za. You can also e-mail Spetho on ssiyengo@buyolo.co.za

Our last interview was with Hawa Tayob - Director of the Early Learning Foundation - Montessori. Hawa founded the Early Learning Foundation Montessori Teacher Training programme in May 1995. This non-profit organisation aims to provide quality preschool education while empowering women economically to realise their potential in the market place. We were talking about their training programme as well as the ABSA SOWETAN ECD award the organisation received. For more information on ELF-Montessori you can call them on (021) 447 3712 or Hawa on 072 335 8530. Alternatuvely you can e-mail the ELF on elf.montessori@gmail.com