MBABANE – The Southern Africa Nazarene University (SANU) has warned staff that salaries will be withheld unless employees register daily and demonstrate full commitment to their duties.
The university released a memorandum through the Registrar’s Office yesterday, addressed to all staff members, citing specific legal provisions. The memorandum serves as a reminder of the ‘no work, no pay’ principle, notifying employees that if they withhold their labour, the institution will, in turn, withhold payment. According to the memorandum, management based this decision on Section 87(3) of the Industrial Relations Act No. 1 of 2000, which stipulates that an employer is not bound to pay wages to any employee for any day, or part of a day, during which that employee is engaged in a strike.
To ensure an accurate payroll process and verify service delivery, the university is implementing mandatory daily attendance registers:
Faculty staff: Must sign the register at their respective faculty dean’s office.
Administrative and support staff: Must sign the register at the Human Resources (HR) department.
The memorandum emphasised that staff members who fail to sign the mandatory register will be deemed absent. Consequently, proportional salary deductions will be applied to their monthly pay, effective from the date of the memorandum’s release.
Speaking to this publication, SANU Registrar Sipho Mhlanga confirmed the release of the memorandum. He explained that the measure aims to ensure all staff members verify their presence and performance.
“If a person does not sign the attendance list, it means there is no evidence that the staff member conducted their duties on that day,” Mhlanga stated.
He elaborated that support staff, such as cleaners, would also be held accountable; if an assigned area is not cleaned, the employee will be liable. Staff were urged to visit their supervisors and sign the list as proof of diligent service.
Mhlanga noted that while the policy was already in existence, recent ongoing strikes prompted the university to remind staff of the consequences.
“Lawfully, an employer cannot pay an employee who has withheld their manpower,” he said, adding that the institution will calculate exact payouts based on daily rates and the verified registers.
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