Legislation compelling employers to contribute towards their employees' pension/provident fund and medical aid has been on the cards for some time now. Employer and employee parties and government are currently negotiating these "social responsibility" legislationary drafts at NEDLAC.

LabourNet currently has approximately 1 500 employer clients throughout South Africa which employ a total staff compliment of more than 110 000 employees. This number of employees represents a large portion of the total South African workforce. Utilising these numbers Labournet managed to negotiate and conclude, with major insurance companies, highly favourable pension/provident fund rates which normally would not have been offered to smaller employers. LabourNet also managed to conclude agreements with other major roleplayers providing Aidscover, funeral cover and a fairly unique income protection package for employees.

Every year LabourNet represents it's employers clients during annual wage negotiations. Increasingly trade unions and employee representatives are demanding more "social responsibility" contributions from employers. These wage negotiations are therefore the perfect platform to pro-actively implement "social responsibility" contributions from employers. LabourNet is in an unenviable position, as outsourced Labour Law partners to these employers, to pro-actively advise their clients to start making contributions at an early stage, before implementation of the pending legislation. If not, employers will be caught, with the promulgation of the legislation, with a huge deficit in employer contributions. These contributions could be substantial and could cripple any business that have not been pro-active in this regard.

LabourNet also conducts an increasing amount of retrenchments and other staff redundancy issues on behalf of their clients. To assist employees and employers in this regard a unique "Income Protection package" has been developed and made available to all LabourNet clients and their employees. In order for employees to claim back their income, LabourNet has to conduct the proceedings and they have to verify, to the Insurers, that the retrenchment or redundancy was bona fide.

Another product is the "LabourNet Aidscare product". This product is available to employers to assist with their responsibility toward this pandemic. "LabourNet Aidscare" is unique in the South African market and focuses hugely on counselling, education and treatment. This product also provides for accidental AIDS exposure treatment and other types of treatment by qualified mediacal practitioners and counselling by qualified practitioners.

For more information about these and other employee benefits products contact your closest LabourNet branch."