Labour blitz raises suspicions

A GLENWOOD resident had cause for concern two weeks ago when a man claiming to be from the Durban Labour Department knocked on her door asking for information about her domestic worker. This week another resident from Umbilo had a woman claiming to be fromt he CCMA, walk into her yard looking for her domestic worker.

Wendy Watson was not home when the man arrived at her door. “The gentleman came to our gate and said he was from the Department of Labour. I was at work but my partner and domestic worker were home. He apparently wore a badge and said he wanted to know whether our domestic worker had a contract. When he spoke to her in Zulu, he asked her what she earned and whether she had a payslip. He then gave them a photocopy of a form entitled Basic Conditions of Employment Act 1997 with a Department of Labour stamp on. He also gave them a Contract of Employment which he said they need to fill in and that he will collect at a later stage,” a worried Watson said.

Watson said she was “extremely uncomfortable” with the incident as she would have expected the public to be alerted to something like this. “I am suspicious of his motives and am aware of many scams about.”

After Berea Mail contacted the Department of Labour to investigate the matter it was apparent that the Durban Labour Centre had embarked on a ‘mini blitz’ inspection on the domestic sector between 10 and 20 March.

“The blitz inspection was done to curtail the escalation of complaints received, and to cover the deficit of inspections on the domestic sector requirement,” said the Labour Department’s Sam Zondi.

“Basically, the department divides its inspections according to the following categories: the Pro-active, the Re-active and the Blitz inspections. Pro-active inspections are conducted without announcing that one will be coming, nor, by making an appointment. They are just conducted randomly. The Re-active inspections require appointments as they are mainly complaints filed by employees against their employers. So, in that case, an appointment with the responsible person in an organisation is necessary. Blitz inspections can be sanctioned by either the National or Provincial or Local Labour centres, and, appointments can be made depending on the nature and type of the sectors to be inspected,” explained Zondi.

The Glenwood area was visited according to Zondi. Procedurally and legally, Zondi added that inspectors always have their ‘inspectors card’ is their possession when conducting inspections for purposes of identification.

With crime and home invasions becoming a very real threat in Glenwood and Umbilo many residents are already on edge and paranoid.

The second woman, said she had the woman just walk almost into her yard on Monday morning. “She said she wanted to speak to my maid, and I told her I don’t have one so she went to my neighbour and I told her they didn’t have one either and I noticed that she continued to look into the homes as she walked away.” The pensioner found the woman very suspicious and contacted the CCMA and was told that they would never send staff door-to-door and advised her to contact the police.

“I called the 1011 number at about11 o’ clock and didn’t hear from them all day,” she said disappointed.