Dear CEO-MEIBC Members

 

After an official announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa regarding the country moving to level 3 of lockdown from the 1 June 2020, the MEIBC has issued a circular to the industry members together with the stakeholders that all MEIBC offices will be open and accessible to the members of the industry with effect from 1 June 2020.

 

In order for the council to avoid the spread of Covid-19, it has also been noted that a number of people who will enter the MEIBC buildings at any given time will be strictly monitored, and the stakeholders are requested to exercise patience during this period. Therefore, social distancing remains a key element for reducing the spread of the virus from one person to another.

 

The purpose of the circular is to highlight two critical areas that involve stakeholders and members of the industry, which are the Centre for Dispute Resolution (CDR) and Operations.

 

THE CENTRE FOR DISPUTE RESOLUTION (CDR):

  • Matters relating to pre-cons, conciliations, arbitrations, point in limine and part-heard matters; the council’s first approach would be to have these functions performed virtually, where parties in dispute are in This method will enable the council to continue with the scheduling of processes while still maintaining social distancing.
  • If parties do not agree to have their cases heard virtually, the MEIBC CDR centres will be the next obvious option to accommodate the hearings. In this instance, all social distancing protocols will be observed at all times with no exceptions.
  • The council further stated that the following cases would be prioritised:

 

  1. Cases already scheduled and cancelled due to the lockdown;
  2. Cases that date back 2019;
  3. Cases referred before the lockdown (between January and March 2020);
  4. Cases referred during the lockdown and lastly ;
  5. Cases referred after the reopening.

 

Please be advised that even though the council will be allowing walk-ins for new referral disputes, members are strongly encouraged to refer new cases via other means such as email or fax wherever possible.

 

COMPLIANCE PROCESSES

  • Kindly take note that the compliance processes will continue as normal, and also in this instance, the MEIBC stated that it would leverage on technology as much as possible and would employ other proactive strategies to monitor compliance with the agreements.
  • The council stated that designated Agents would prioritise cases that were reported and were partly dealt with before the lockdown, followed by those that were received during and after the lockdown, respectively.

 

The MEIBC has reassured the public that it will always comply with the Occupational Health and Safety Act and provide a safe working environment with minimal risk to the health of staff members and visitors.

 

Please click here to view the full circular.

 

Queries / CEO Membership: For any queries of existing members, or enquiries on how to become a CEO member, please contact our head office at (012) 880 0294 or email us at meibc@ceosa.org.za

 

Regards,

CEO Collective Bargaining Team