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While a number of companies rejoiced at the easing of lockdown restrictions under alert level 4, many are still closed for the foreseeable future.

Even businesses that are back up and running faced losses during the first phase of the lockdown, which they are struggling to recover.

Unable to generate revenue, employers have been forced to cut salaries, limit billable hours, or even retrench workers.

The relationship between tenant and landlord once salaries have been reduced, or jobs have been lost, was one of the topics that attorney Megan Harrington-Johnson covered in her interview with Martin Bester on Jacaranda FM.

She also delved into employee rights, as more and more companies cut salaries in an attempt to stay afloat.

MyBroadband summarised her main points.

What is the proper procedure for implementing salary cuts?

A number of South African companies have been forced to amend their employees’ salaries.

Companies are therefore entering into arrangements with their staff. If this is done unilaterally, without consulting their staff, it is technically illegal.

To make changes to employees’ salaries, companies have to do it in consultation with the affected employees. The employees must, in principle, agree to the salary changes.

This is a difficult situation to navigate, because refusing to take the pay cut could mean losing your job altogether.

Should employees be forewarned about salary cuts?

As previously mentioned, the legal way to make changes to an employee’s salary is in consultation with them.

There is no period stipulated in law which sets a strict guideline on what an acceptable time frame is to implement salary changes. It should, however, be reasonable.

Employers can therefore not tell their employees a day before payday that their salaries will be changed.

Employers should consider at least one week of negotiations before cutting salaries.

If you are faced with a reduced income, the law states that you are not exempt from your obligations such as rent or debt.

For a detailed breakdown of how this is affecting the rental market, head here. 

You can listen to the full interview below:

[sources:jacarandafm&mybroadband]