Learnerships Legal Work Hours, Overtime and Mealtimes

Learnerships Legal Work Hours. Learners, employers and training providers are guided by legislation. This post covers the legal working hours as stipulated by the Department of Labour (DoL).

Learnerships Legal Work Hours

The DoL posted Learnership the legislation called Sectoral Determination 5: Learnerships. A sectoral determination is made in terms of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act and there are many different types. These legislative documents determine the terms and conditions of employment for employees in that particular sector for which it is made.

Sectoral Determination 5 sets rules for Learnerships regarding:

• minimum wages (what’s the lowest you can be paid)
• working hours
• number of leave days
• termination (ending it) rules

The information below is extracted from Sectoral Determination 5: Learnerships, Clauses 8 – 13

Learnerships Legal Work Hours: INTERPRETATION OF DAY

8. ‘Day’ means a period of 24 hours measured from the time when the learner normally begins work (‘daily’ means that the times of work are repeated).

Learnerships Legal Work Hours: ORDINARY HOURS OF WORK

9. (1) based on points numbered 8 to 18 in this legislation, an employer may not make a learner work more than-

• 45 hours in a week;
• nine hours in a day if the learner works for five days or fewer in week; or
• eight hours in a day if the learner works on more than five days in a week.

(2) However, a learner and employer can agree to these extra times:

• A learner’s ordinary hours of work may by agreement be extended by up to 15 minutes in a day. This means that learners must agree to this arrangement. It goes on to say that time may not be increased to more than 60 minutes in a week to enable a learner whose duties include serving members of the public to continue performing those duties after the completion of ordinary hours of work.

Learnerships Legal Work Hours: OVERTIME  

10. (1) Sections 8 to 18 of this legislation, explain that an employer may not require or permit a learner-

• to work overtime unless there is an agreement to work more than-
  • three hours’ overtime a day;
  • ten hours’ overtime a week.

(2) An employer must pay a learner at least one and one-half times the learner’s allowance for overtime worked.

(3) An agreement may provide for an employer to-

• pay a learner not less than the learner’s ordinary allowance for overtime worked and grant the learner at least 30 minutes’ time off on full pay for every hour of overtime worked; or
• grant a learner at least 90 minutes paid time off for each hour of overtime worked.

(4) (a)    An employer must grant paid time off within one month of the learner becoming entitled to it.

(b)  An agreement in writing may increase the period stated to 12 months.

(5) An agreement concluded with a learner when the learner starts employment, or during the first three months of employment, lapses after one year.

Learnerships Legal Work Hours: COMPRESSED WORKING WEEK

11. (1) An agreement in writing may require or permit a learner to work up to twelve hours in a day, inclusive of the meal intervals required, without receiving overtime pay.

• An agreement may not require or permit a learner to work-
  • more than 45 ordinary hours of work in any week;
  • more than ten hours’ overtime in any week; or
  • on more than five days in any week.

Learnerships Legal Work Hours: AVERAGING OF HOURS OF WORK

12. The ordinary hours of work and overtime of a learner may be averaged over a period of up to four months in terms of a collective agreement.

• An employer may not require or permit a learner who is bound by a collective agreement to work more than-
  • an average of 45 ordinary hours of work in a week over the agreed period;
  • an average of five hours’ overtime in a week over the agreed period;
  • twelve hours in a day, inclusive of the meal intervals required in terms of clause 13.
• A collective agreement lapses after 12 months.

Learnerships Legal Work Hours: MEAL INTERVALS

13. (1) An employer must give a learner who works continuously for more than five hours a meal interval of at least one continuous hour.

• During a meal interval, the learner may be required or permitted to perform only duties that cannot be left unattended and cannot be performed by another learner.
• A learner must be remunerated-
  • for a meal interval in which the learner is required to work or is required to be available for work; and
  • for any portion of a meal interval that is in excess of 75 minutes, unless the learner lives on the premises at which the workplace is situated.
• For the purposes of this clause, work is continuous unless it is interrupted by an interval of at least 60 minutes.
• An agreement in writing may-
  • reduce the meal interval to not less than 30 minutes;
  • dispense with a meal interval for a learner who works fewer than six hours on a day.

Related Posts

• Regulations for Learnership Leave of Absence

• Learnerships and Pregnancy: Maternity Leave

• Random Resigning and Registering for Learnerships Warning

• Learnership Regulations For Sick Leave and Work Injury

• The Information in Learnership Contracts

• Learnership Regulations For Sundays And Night Shifts

• Learnership Stipend Rules And Regulations