By National Bargaining Council for Hairdressing, Cosmetology, Beauty and Skincare
Please take the time and read through this important mailer, which details all relevant information on the Council, who we are, what we do and how the monthly contributions work.
Who is the National Bargaining Council for the Hairdressing, Cosmetology, Beauty and Skincare Industry?
The role of a National Bargaining Council is defined by the Labour Relations Act (LRA) and consists primarily of facilitating agreements between Trade Union/s and employer organisation/s.
In the case of The National Bargaining Council for the Hairdressing, Cosmetology, Beauty and Skincare Industry, these representative bodies are UASA - the UNION, representing the employees and the EOHCB - the Employers’ Organisation for Hairdressing, Cosmetology and Beauty, representing the employers.
Together, these two organisations constitute the parties to the HCSBC.
The Council provides a forum in which discussions and negotiations can take place, and collective agreements can be formulated. Once such an agreement has been reached, our role is to ensure the fair and impartial enforcement of the agreed terms of conditions of employment.
The National Bargaining Council for the Hairdressing, Cosmetology, Beauty and Skincare Industry is governed by the Main Collective Agreement in accordance with the provisions of the Labour Relations Act, No. 66 of 1995, made and entered into by and between the EOHCB and UASA – being the parties to the National Bargaining Council for the Hairdressing, Cosmetology, Beauty and Skincare Industry. The terms of this Agreement shall be observed in the Hairdressing, Cosmetology, Beauty and Skincare Industry (“the Industry”), in the Republic of South Africa.
This Main Agreement is submitted to the Department of Labour for sign-off by the Minister of Employment and Labour. Once signed this agreement is binding in terms of section 31 of the Labour Relations Act of 1995.
During September 2019 a new agreement was concluded by the parties (EOHCB and UASA) and was submitted to the Department of Labour for scrutiny, approval and signing by the Minister. There were delays from the Department of Labour’s side and then subsequently, Covid-19 happened. Due to all these delays, the new agreement applicable to 2020 was only signed and published by the Minister of Employment and Labour on 12 June 2020.
This Main Collective Agreement is applicable to party members (EOHCB membership for employers or legal owners and UASA membership for employees). This agreement is then also extended to non-parties in the industry by the Minister. As per the published agreement, this extension to non-parties came into effect on the last day of June 2020. Therefore, the new regulations and fees were applicable from 1 July 2020 to all non-parties in the industry.
Registration of an establishment with the National Bargaining Council for the Hairdressing, Cosmetology, Beauty and Skincare Industry
In terms of Clause 5 of the Main Collective Agreement, all Employers and Legal owners shall be obliged to ensure that an Establishment has been registered with the Council, is operated by or employs at least one Qualified Hairdresser / Hairstylist: Qualified or B-Tech Somatologist or Beauty Technologist or Nail Technologist depending on the type of Cosmetology Services rendered and has obtained a certificate from the Council to render Cosmetology Services.
Prior to the commencement of the rendering of Cosmetology Services at an Establishment, every Employer or Legal Owner of an Establishment shall apply to the Council in the form specified in Annexure “A” for registration of the Establishment and shall, as part of the registration process, also submit a duly completed Annexure “B” in respect of all Employees employed at the Establishment. A separate application shall be completed in respect of each Establishment operated by an Employer or Legal Owner. These documents can be submitted to accounts@hcsbc.co.za.
Registration of employees with the National Bargaining Council for the Hairdressing, Cosmetology, Beauty and Skincare Industry
In the event of an Employee (including a Learner or a Student) taking up employment with an Establishment, subsequent to the registration of the Establishment, the Employer shall, on or before the seventh day of the month following such appointment, notify the Council of such Employee’s appointment, by submitting a duly completed Annexure “B” to accounts@hcsbc.co.za.
In the event of an Employee (including a Learner or a Student) resigning from an Establishment, the Employer shall, on or before the seventh day of the month following such resignation, notify the Council of such Employee’s resignation, by dispatching a written notice of such Employee’s resignation which notification shall include the Employee’s full names, surname, identity number, position held and last working day to amend@hcsbc.co.za.
Membership to the parties to the National Bargaining Council for the Hairdressing, Cosmetology, Beauty and Skincare Industry – Employers Organisation (EOHCB) and the Union (UASA)
Every Employer who employs a member of the trade union shall deduct from the remuneration or Basic Salary or wage of that Employee the subscriptions and levies payable to the trade union and pay the subscriptions and levies so deducted, monthly to the Council by not later than the date specified on the monthly return.
Membership to the Union (UASA) is not compulsory however the National Bargaining Council for the Hairdressing, Cosmetology, Beauty and Skincare Industry would recommend that employees do join to enjoy the benefits the Union offers (listed below).
Every Employer and Legal Owner who is a member of the Employers’ Organisation shall be required to pay the monthly subscription and levies charged by that organisation to the Council, by no later than the dates specified on the monthly return.
Membership to the Employers Organisation (EOHCB) is not compulsory however the National Bargaining Council for the Hairdressing, Cosmetology, Beauty and Skincare Industry would recommend that employers and legal owners do join to enjoy the benefits the Employers Organisation offers.
Legal Owners
When a legal owner is a member of the EOHCB, the fee payable by them equates to R 200.00 per month. If they are a non-party, that fee jumps to R 524.00 per month as per Annexure C of the new Main Collective Agreement. This fee formed part of the negotiations by the parties which the Council now needs to enforce. It is therefore of far greater benefit to join the EOHCB since this will reduce the monthly fee from R 524.00 to R 200.00 but you also enjoy the membership of the Employer Organisation. (Remember that for a legal owner, the Council Levy of R 225.75 is still due as well.)
The Council can put any legal owner in contact with an EOHCB agent should you have more questions about their membership. The Council’s agents can also assist with any questions in this regard.
For the purposes of defraying the expenses of the Council, every Employer shall be obliged to deduct from the earnings of each Employee and pay to the Council, those deductions reflected in the appropriate column of the Basic salary or wages schedules (annexure “H”) which can be found on our website (www.hcsbc.co.za). Legal Owners shall pay to the Council such contributions, as indicated in Annexure “H”.
In terms of the negotiations the parties undertake annually the following is discussed and decided upon:
Prescribed salaries for workers in the industry.
This is based on the type of employee you have, if that person is qualified or not and also the amount of experience they have. There should always be a prescribed salary to ensure that employers pay their employees a fair salary. Also keep in mind that with the new Minimum Basic Wage which came into effect by the Minister, you cannot pay an employee less than R 20.76 per hour.
EOHCB Fees
This is a fee payable by the employer or legal owner to the Employers Organisation (EOHCB). Membership is not mandatory however there is a Basic fee that is still payable by an employer or legal owner to the EOHCB even if not a member. They negotiate and protect the employers and legal owners and negotiate on their behalf. Their negotiations also endeavor to cover employers and legal owners who are non-members to ensure they comply with legislation.
Union Fees
This fee is payable by the employee to belong to the Union. This union protects the employee from unfair work practices and they also negotiate on behalf of the employee with the employers’ organization. Membership again is not compulsory however an Agency Fee is payable by the employee should he/she not belong to the Union. From Jan 20 the Union Fee and the Agency Fee equates to the same amount and it therefore recommended that the employee belong to the Union.
Sick Pay Fund
Membership to this fund is mandatory for all employees in the industry. What this fund is for is where you have an employee who gets booked off sick (even if only for one day). You as employer do then not have to pay the employee for that day since the employee submits a claim to the Sick Pay Fund to be compensated for the day he/she could not work due to illness.
Sick Pay Fund contributions are calculated on the employee’s salary. The employer pays 0.5% of the salary and the employee pays 0.5% towards the fund. The Sick Pay fund can also be joined by a legal owner to assist you in times when you cannot work due to illness. A claim can be submitted to Council for this.
Pension Fund
The parties have also agreed that pension should be mandatory for all employees in the industry. We have our own pension fund to which employees should belong. The contributions are calculated as 6% on salary for the employer and 6% on salary for the employee (except KZN which is 6.5% contribution for both employer and employee).
Should the employer already have a pension fund for employees in place, they can apply for exemption, however your pension fund should have equal or greater benefits than the Council’s pension fund.
Council Levies
For the Bargaining Council then to facilitate and administer all the above, we need to charge a levy as well. The levy also consists of an employer and employee contribution. The levies are calculated as 1.3% on the salary for the employer and 1.3% on the salary for the employee for all establishments registered after 1 November 2017. Any establishment registered before 1 November 2017 pays a fixed contribution for employer and employees as stipulated on the Basic salary or wages schedules (annexure “H”) which can be found on our website (www.hcsbc.co.za).
Contributions payable to the National Bargaining Council for the Hairdressing, Cosmetology, Beauty and Skincare Industry Contributions payable to the Council can be summarized as follows:
For more info and contact details please visit the website.
