worker's occupation, or a brief description
of the work; Employment details includes,
Place/s of work, date of employment
working hours and days of work; Payment
details includes, Salary or wage, or the
rate and method of calculating wages,
Rate for overtime, Any other cash
payments, Any payments in kind and
their value, Frequency of payment and
Any deductions; Leave information
includes, Any leave the worker is entitled
to. Notice/contract period including
Period of notice required for termination
or Period of contract
Unveiling Champions
The law requires that the contents of
the document must be explained to the
employee in a language he understands.
You must also update this employment
document and provide the employee with
a new copy when: The law changes; You
and your employee agree to changes in the
terms and conditions; You increase the
employee's pay or benefits. In this regard,
you can simply add a supplementary letter
to the original contract.
the company moving forward, rather than
in terms of the debt in question. A good
worker may be worth more to you in the
long run.
On the other hand the employer may
recover the money owed from the
employee’s pension fund benefits if
and where it is allowable. However, the
deduction must comply with relevant
sections of the Pension Funds Act.
If a debt is for damage caused by the
employee’s “theft, dishonesty, fraud or
misconduct”, the employer may ask the
fund to deduct the amount of the debt
and pay it over.
However, the employee must have
admitted liability in writing; otherwise
the employer would need to get a court
judgment against the employee. Without
the written acknowledgement of liability
or a court judgment, it would be illegal to
withhold the proceeds of the employee’s
pension fund benefits.
All said and done sometimes it is
important to capture enough information
82 MAL28/19 ISSUE
in the employment contract as this may
come in handy in collecting the amount.
No matter how small your business
or the number of employees you have,
the labor law states that you must give
your employees a written document
that outlines in writing the terms and
conditions of their employment. Not
doing so, can land you in hot water
somewhere along the line.
In line with the employment act, workers
- must receive a document containing
certain information regarding the
conditions of their employment.
This can take the form of a letter of
appointment or you can create something
more formal and suited to your business.
By getting your employee to sign the
document, you can avoid disputes about
whether or not it was given and what it
contains.
Information that must appear in the
document includes: Employer and worker
details include employer's full name,
employer's address, worker's name and
A legal contract does not have to be a
lengthy, complicated document. This will
definitely form a basis of reference when
employees owe money to an organization
In conclusion, it would be ideal to make
a clean break with departing employees.
Alas, it is not always so, especially when
the trust relationship has been completely
destroyed. Managers are human, and
they may feel the human urge to want to
complicate the life of an employee who
committed gross misconduct that resulted
in loss to the employer.
So making deductions from remuneration
or withholding pension payouts may not
be beyond them, even if these acts are
not strictly within the bounds of the law.
However hard as it may be these urges
should be resisted. After all, one wrong
does not cancel another or make it right.
To be safe, any money to be recovered
from an employee should be authorized
by law.
Wasilwa Miriongi is a certified
Credit
Professional
currently
working as the Managing Director,
Del Creder Credit Management
Limited. You can engage him on
this or related matters via email at:
[email protected].
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