Welcome

South African Engineers’ and Founders’ Association

The SA Engineers and Founders Association (SAEFA) represents the interests of hundreds of member companies in the metal and engineering industry. These companies range in size from very small employers to large multinational organisations. SAEFA not only offers a wide range of direct services to member companies but also represents the interests of our members at both industry and national levels. 

SAEFA’s direct services to member companies, available at a reduced fee to these companies compared to what a non-member company would pay in the market, include assistance on all matters affecting the relationship between themselves and their employees/trade unions – for example:

  • Dispute resolution, conciliation, mediation and arbitration services 
  • Advice, assistance, consultancy and training on labour legislation, employment conditions and all other Industrial Relations matters
  • Assistance is also provided with health and safety matters, broad-based black economic empowerment, contract price adjustments and skills development through our affiliate organisations

For full information on these services contact SAEFA’s Executive Director, Gordon Angus, at gordon@saefa.co.za. 

SAEFA also represents the interests of our member companies in all industry negotiations with the industry’s trade unions, not only on wages and other conditions of employment but also on the industry’s benefit funds which provide benefits to employees such as pensions, permanent disability and sick pay benefits. SAEFA has its own seats at the MEIBC, participating directly in all activities there.

Being a member of SAEFA allows you to have a direct say in what happens in your industry.

 

News

Retrenchment Workshop

7 February 2019

Are You Having to Consider Short-Time, Lay-Offs or Retrenchments in 2019?

The metal and engineering industry is now under more pressure than ever before, following the commodities slump of a few years ago, felt particularly hard in this sector.  Coupled with collective bargaining arrangements that have led to unsustainably high labour costs, this means that short-time, lay-offs and even retrenchments may need to be considered as means of survival. 

Legislation regulating these processes requires that specific procedures be adhered to.  These legal requirements can often prove daunting to employers, particularly those who have never implemented short-time, lay-offs or retrenchments before or who have not had to for some time.

The South African Engineers’ and Founders’ Association, in association with Gordon Angus and Associates is running a one-day workshop to guide employers through the legislative requirements of the Labour Relations Act and other applicable laws.

Wage Negotiation Update

23 January 2019

In previous correspondence to members, we advised that in October last year, the Director of Collective Bargaining at the Department of Labour refused to process the request for the extension of the 2017 – 2020 Settlement Agreement on the basis that it was riddled with “shortcomings”.  In response, on the 15th of January, NUMSA submitted the demands below to the MEIBC.  As is evident from their letter, NUMSA now wish to initiate negotiations to amend their employer-unfriendly settlement agreement so that they can foist it on the 90% of employers in the industry who want no part of it.  This is all despite the SA Engineers and Founders Association continuously requesting NUMSA and the other trade unions to do what is right and return to the negotiating table, since August 2017.

15 JAN 2019 ANNEXURE E AMENDMENTS TO MAC

The Turbulent Labour Law Landscape

17 January 2019

The Turbulent Labour Law Landscape:

Considering the recent amendments made to South African Labour Legislation and offering guidance on the applicability of the Main Agreement and/or Basic Conditions of Employment Act to your employees.

The National Council of Province’s Select Committee on Economic and Business Development deliberated and finalised four labour bills, namely, the National Minimum Wage Bill; the Labour Relations Amendment Bill; the Labour Laws Amendment Bill and the Basic Conditions of Employment Amendment Bill.  These bills were adopted without any amendments by the NCOP and, thereafter, assented to by President Cyril Ramaphosa and most of them came into effect on 01 January 2019.

SAEFA 2019 Training Calendar: Save the Dates

15 January 2019

The SA Engineers and Founders Association is pleased to advise that the following training programmes will be available this year.

These training programmes are offered as public or in-house programmes and can be customised to suit your company’s needs.
 
Please save the following dates: