NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
QUESTIONS FOR WRITTEN REPLY
PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION NO :420 ( CW420E )
Mr D B Feldman (COPE) to ask the Minister of Labour:
1) Whether his department has put any strategies, policies and mechanisms
in place to ensure that it was protective of workers who had lost
their jobs similarly to those who were still in employment; if not,
why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
MINISTER OF LABOUR REPLY:
1) The Department of Labour has a number of measures to assist workers
who loose their jobs. Amongst them are the following:
⢠We pay workers who become unemployed and who have been
contributors to the fund through the Unemployment Insurance Fund
for a period that is linked to the number of credits they have.
⢠Through the Employment Services of the Department, workers are
also able to be placed in employment, to be guided to new and
alternative careers including referral to further training under
the Department of Higher Education.
⢠During 2009, the Department of Labour set aside R2.4 billion
(R1,2 billion from the National Skills Fund and R1.2 billion
from the Unemployment Insurance Fund) to fund training
allowances as part of the response initiative to the
international economic crisis. This formed part of the Training
Layoff scheme that was agreed to by the social partners and is
being implemented in cooperation with the Commission for
Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) and a number of
Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAâs). As at the
27th August 2010, there were a total of fourteen cases where the
training layoff process is underway involving 5 855 workers.