Check out Measuredability’s General Articles Section

How to write a CV

 

What does CV stand for?

 

CV stands for Curriculum Vitae. It comes from the Latin meaning ‘course of life’, and is usually a short summary of a job-seeker’s personal details, employment history, education, and any skills, awards, or achievements they want to list. It should normally not be more than 2 or 3 pages.

In the USA they would call a CV a resume, and a Curriculum Vitae is a more lengthy document with much more detail, usually only used in Academic and Medical careers.

What does a CV look like?

 

There is no standard format for a CV, and they can come in many different variations. You should generally try and create a different CV for each position you apply for, and make sure that the most important and relevant information comes first and is the most visible. Most recruiters only scan a CV for an average of 6 seconds, so you need to make sure that the important information is obvious enough to be seen in that time.

You would normally put your personal details first (Name, Contact Details, ID Number, etc), and if in South Africa, you would also often put your Ethnicity, Gender, Disability status, etc for BEE reasons. In most other countries you would normally not include these things.

After this, you would normally put your employment history, usually in reverse chronological order, so the most recent jobs would come first. You should put the dates you worked at the company, the company name, and your position as well as a short summary of your duties or skills.

This would normally be followed by your Education history, listing the institutions and qualifications as well as the dates you were enrolled.

After that, you could list any other certificates you have, any skills you think would be relevant, and anything else you think could be relevant to the position. Sometimes people list volunteer work they have done, or their hobbies, etc.

It’s also normally a good idea to include some references, preferably from employers for similar positions. There are many mistakes that one can make on a C.V, to avoid those mistakes read here.

You don’t have to follow the above order, you can mix things up and should do so if the more relevant information for the job would be under education or volunteer work for example. You should always make sure that the most relevant information for the job you are applying for comes first.

It is also common to include a covering letter. This would normally be your motivation for why you think you are right for the job, and an attempt to sell yourself for the position, and should normally just be a paragraph or two. If you are emailing a CV for a position, then this can be in the email itself. If you are just generally uploading a CV to a job board you would not normally include a covering letter.

Generally, it is a good idea to keep the CV short and to the point. List everything that is important and relevant to the position, but doesn’t try and fill it out with unnecessary ‘fluff’. Most of the time recruiters (whether at an agency or at a company itself) are going to have to go through hundreds of CVs for one position and keeping things short and to the point, while making the important information highly visible is going to help you a lot.

Writing a CV that computers can read

 

Normally you don’t need to make a CV too fancy (unless you are applying for a design position, in which case you may want to show off your skills). In fact, especially if you are applying electronically through a job board or through a recruitment agency, you want to keep the CV formatting fairly simple. This is because the CV needs to be readable by a computer so that you will come up in searches done on the job board, or through the recruitment agencies Applicant Tracking System. These programs scan your CV for relevant keywords based on what the user is searching for, so those keywords need to be legible to software. You should never upload a scanned copy of a CV to a job board as the software will see that as an image and will not be able to pick out relevant keywords, so you will never come up in a search.

It is also important to make sure that the keywords, skills, and qualifications that people would search for to find someone like you appear in your CV. The bigger job boards in South Africa have millions of CVs in their databases, so you need to make sure that your CV comes up in a search. Think of all the terms that someone might search for and try to include them. Also, take a good look at the major requirements for the position you are applying for, and ensure that they appear in your CV. Make sure that if there is more than one way to write a particular skill or qualification, that you write it the same way it appears in the job advert, as that is most likely the way that the recruiter will write it when searching.

Upload your CV

 

Now that you know how to write a CV, make sure that you send us your CV once you have written it. We are a recruitment agency and labour broker and we fill all kinds of positions, from factory workers to CEOs, all over South Africa and into Africa and the Middle East.

You can also search through our currently available positions, and apply for any that interest you. Please note that we don’t always advertise all of our available positions, especially the unskilled ones, so even if you don’t see anything suitable for you, please send us your CV anyway.

When are taxes due in South Africa?

 

VAT payments (VAT201)

VAT (Value Added Tax) payments are due monthly on the last business day of the month.

Employers Tax (EMP201)

Employers Tax (PAYE, SDL and UIF) payments are due monthly on the 7th of the month, or the last business day before that.

The interim reconciliation for the first 6 months of the tax year is due on the last business day of October.

The annual reconciliation is due on the last business day in May.

Provisional Taxpayers

Provisional Taxpayers (those who earn an income other than a salary) need to submit an interim submission and payment for the first 6 months of the tax year by the last business day in August.

The annual submission and payment is due on the last business day in February.

Tax returns

Tax returns need to be submitted during tax season which is from July to November.

Unfair Dismissal

 

What is Unfair Dismissal in South Africa?

The fairness of a dismissal is decided in two ways – substantive fairness and procedural fairness.

Substantive Fairness

Substantive fairness is decided by whether or not there was a fair reason to dismiss the employee and was it appropriate under the circumstances to dismiss the employee.

There are three reasons by which you can fairly dismiss an employee:

1. Misconduct (The employee has done something wrong)
2. Incapacity (The employee does not do the job properly, or is unable to due to ill health or disability)
3. Retrenchment or redundancy (The employer is cutting down on staff or restructuring the work done)

Procedural Fairness

Did the employer handle the dimissal procedure fairly?

The employee must always have a fair hearing before being dismissed, where they are able to give their side of the story. You cannot fairly dismiss someone without a disciplinary hearing.

Even if the employee is at fault, the employer still needs to pay the right wages, leave pay and notice pay.

It is completely within the employees rights to refer the dismissal to the CCMA for conciliation.

See below for more about fair procedures for each of the kinds of dismissal:

Misconduct

It is best for employers if they have clear rules of conduct for employees to follow. A dismissal for misconduct can only really be seen to be fair if the following is true:

1. The worker broke a rule at the workplace.
2. The rule was reasonable and necessary.
3. The worker should have known about the rule.
4. There is a consistent application of the rule. The employer does not selectively apply the rule.
5. Dismissal is an appropriate action, as opposed to disciplinary action or a lesser penalty.

Employees should not be dismissed for minor infractions. Corrective discipline should be the first resort, to bring the employee into line. Repeated breaking of the rules can incur greater and greater penalties.

For first offences, only serious offences should result in dismissal. Examples could be physical assault, intentional damage to the employers property, gross insubordination, or putting others safety at risk.

Employees can be dismissed for engaging in a strike without following the proper procedure. A trade union official would need to be informed, with an ultimatum with enough time for the ultimatum to be properly considered. The employees should not be dismissed if they return to work before the ultimatum is reached.

Employers need to keep disciplinary records for each employee showing any offences comitted by the employee, what disciplinary action was taken, and why. Repeated misconduct must result in warnings, with the final warning for repeated or serious misconduct being a written warning.

In order for a hearing to be considered as fair:

• If the employee is a shopsteward, then the union will need to be notified about the hearing.
• The employee must be informed about which charges are being brought against them, and they must be given time to prepare for the hearing.
• The employee must be given an opportunity to be present at the hearing and present their case.
• The employee must be allowed to be represented by a union official or co-worker.
• The employee must be allowed to view documents, and cross-examine any evidence used against them.
• All witnesses to the misconduct should be present at the hearing, and the employee should be given an opportunity to cross-examine said witnesses.
• The employee should be allowed to call witnesses of their own.
• The employee should be given reasons for any actions taken against them.

Incapacity

Dismissals for incapacity can be for poor work performance, ill health, disability or incompatibility.

When deciding if a dimissal for incapacity was fair or not, the following needs to be considered:

• Did the employee fail to work to a given standard?
• Was the employee aware of the expected standard?
• Was the employee given a fair chance to meet the standard?
• Is dismissal a fair punishment?

A dismissal for poor performance can only be seen as fair if:

• The employee was given sufficient training, evaluation, guidance and advice
• Their performance was assessed over a suitable period of time
• The reasons for poor performance were suitably investigated
• Alternatives to dismissal had been explored
• The employee was given a chance to be heard before the dismissal

Dismissals for poor health or disibility can only be seen as fair if:

• The degree and duration of incapacity has been investigated
• Alternatives to dismissal have been explored
• An attempt has been made to find alternative work for the employee, or to adapt their work to make it possible for the employee to continue working.
• The employee has been given a chance to be heard.

All of the following also needs to be considered:

• How badly is the employee injured or disabled?
• How likely are they to remain ill or disabled?
• What is the reason for the incapacity?

More effort is expected from the employer if the employee was injured or became sick in the course of their duties.

Retrenchment or Redundancy

Employers are allowed to retrench workers for the following reasons:

1. Economic – e.g. the employer is losing money.
2. Technological – e.g. employees are being replaced by machinery, or need different skills to operate new machinery.
3. Structural – e.g. the business is being restructured and two departments are being consolidated, so it is no longer necessary to have two seperate heads of department.

When considering retrenchment, the employer will need to consult whoever the collective agreement says it needs to consult, or failing that the workplace forum, or failing that the union or, if none exists, then the workers themselves.

A written notice needs to be given to the relevant persons, inviting them to consult, which should include the following:

1. Reasons for the retrenchment
2. Alternatives that have been considered (including redeployment)
3. Number of employees to be retrenched
4. How the decision will be made regarding who will be retrenched
5. When dismissals shall take place
6. How much severance will be paid
7. What other aid can be given to those who will be retrenched
8. Future re-employment prospects
9. Number of people employed
10. How many retrenchments have been made in the last 12 months

Those invited to consult need to be given a chance to speak and make suggestions on the retrenchment. If the employees have given their representations in writing, then the employer will need to make their replies in writing.

The consultation should aim to reach a consensus on the following:

1. Whether retrenchment is justified and ways to avoid retrenchment
2. How to reduce the number of people to be retrenched
3. How to limit the harsh effects of retrenchment
4. How to select those to be retrenched
5. Negotiation on severance pay

If an agreement cannot be reached, then the matter can be referred to the CCMA.

Automatically Unfair Dismissal

According to Section 187 of the Labour Relations Act, dismissing someone for one of the following reasons is ‘automatically unfair’:

1. Participating in a protected (legal) strike or intending to do so
2. Refusing to do the work of a colleague who is participating in a protected strike (unless their refusal will endanger life or health)
3. Not accepting an employers demand or coercion on a matter of mutual interest (ie. dismissing someone for not accepting your pay increase)
4. For exercising their rights according to the LRA
5. For participating in proceedings against the employer, or reporting the employer to a relevant authority
6. Pregnancy or intended pregnancy
7. Arbritary discrimination based on race, gender, sex, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, political opinion, culture, language, marital status or family responsibility
8. The dismissal was related to the takeover of a going concern
9. Taking part in lawful union activities
10. Due to a disclosure in terms of the ‘Disclosure of Information Act’

Unfair Dismissal – How much Compensation

The exact amount of compensation will be up to the judge or arbitrator, but the Labour Relations Act recommends a maximum of 12 months salary for normal unfair dismissal or up to 24 months salary for an automatic unfair dismissal.

Similar Content:

Disciplinary Procedure

Constructive Dismissal

Labour broker definition

A labour broker (or Temporary Employment Service) is a person or company that provides labourers to client companies on a temporary basis. The workers work at the client company site, but are the employees of the labour broker, not the client.

This means that the labour broker is responsible for all the admin related to the employee, such as payroll, taxes, leave administration etc. For the employer it means greater flexibility, as extra labour can be brought in quickly when necessary, and removed from site when there is less work to do. This can greatly reduce costs and increase efficiency. It also means that any workers who are sick or away from work for any other reason can be quickly replaced so ensure there is always a full complement of staff.

The labour broker usually would do background checks, criminal record checks etc on their pool of labour, and makes sure that their workers are well trained. So instead of bringing in labourers off the street, by using a labour broker you can ensure you are getting hard working, reliable workers.

There is a misconception that labourers who work through labour brokers become the employee of the client company after three months. This is only true in terms of unfair dismissals. A worker employed through a labour broker for the same client company for more than 3 months has the same rights regarding unfair dismissal, and also should not be treated differently to permanent workers. If the worker feels they have been unfairly dismissed, than both the labour broker and the client company can be taken to CCMA and held jointly and severally liable.  However in all other respects, the labourer is still the employee of the labour broker, and the broker will deal with all admin, leave, payroll, etc. It is possible to hire temporary employees through a labour broker for periods longer than 3 months, as long as the duration of the contract can justifiably seen as being for a limited and definite period, or there is another justifiable reason for a fixed term contract. See our post on the new temporary employment laws for more details on this.

Looking for temporary unskilled work?

Are you unskilled or semi-skilled and looking for part time work through a labour broker? Western Star Outsourcing is a major temporary employment provider all over South Africa. If you would like to send us your CV please send it to the relevant branch by fax or email. See here for our branch contact details.

Looking to hire contingent labour?

Western Star can provide all kinds of blue collar labour on a temporary or permanent basis. We also offer white collar recruitment and offshore recruitment services through our other divisions. Contact us for more details.

Casual workers rights in South Africa

 

Please note that there is no definition for ‘casual’ workers in our current legislation. The old Basic Conditions of Employment Act of 1983 used to refer to casual labourers, but the more recent act from 1997 does not mention them. We are using the term ‘casual’ here to mean anyone employed part-time or temporarily.

In South Africa, casual workers’ rights are generally very similar to the rights of permanent employees, as long as they work more than 24 hours a month.

Since 1997, anyone who works more than 24 hours a month is covered by the Basic Conditions of Employment Act. This specifies the basic rights of all employees regarding such things as working times, leave, remuneration, termination, and more. There are a few exceptions to this, the BCEA does not apply to the following:

• Members of the National Defence Force, the National Intelligence Agency, and the South African Secret Service
• Unpaid voluntary employees who do work for a charitable organisation
• Employees who work for an employer for less than 24 hours a month
• Employees on vessels at sea where the Merchant Shipping Act of 1951 is applicable
• Certain special provisions apply to companies employing fewer than ten employees.

If you earn more than the ‘threshold’ amount (currently  R205,433.30 per year, or approximately R17,120 p/m), then certain sections of the Act do not apply:

• section 9: limitations on ordinary hours of work
• section 10: overtime work and payment
• section 11: Compressed working week
• section 12: Averaging of hours of work
• section 14: provision of meal intervals
• section 15: daily and weekly rest period
• section 16: pay for work on Sundays
• section 17: night work
• section 18(3): Public holidays (where an employee may work on a public holiday on which he/she would not have ordinarily worked)

Casual labour pay rates

 

There is no specific pay rate for temporary employees as opposed to permanent employees. However, the minimum wage would be determined by a sectoral determination for your industry. Click here for the minimum wages in various sectors.

 

Casual worker holiday pay

 

Casual workers’ rights for holiday pay should be the same as a permanent employee as long as they work more than 24 hours a month. According to the BCEA, this would be a minimum of 1 day’s leave for every 17 days worked. (Or 1 hour of leave for every 17 hours worked).

 

Casual worker sick pay

 

During each sick leave cycle of 3 years, an employee is entitled to an amount of paid sick leave equal to the number of days they would normally work in a 6 week period. However, during the first six months of employment, an employee is entitled to 1-day of sick leave for every 26 days worked, so this is more likely what will be relevant to a temporary worker.

 

Casual worker tax

 

Casual workers’ rights with regard to tax should be the same as permanent employees except if they work less than 22 hours per week. There is a threshold amount for when you start paying tax, which depends on your age. If you earn less than the threshold (which increases slightly each year, then you are not eligible for tax payments. You can find more information about the current tax rates from SARS.

Casual and part-time workers who work less than 22 hours per week are generally taxed at 25% from the first rand that they earn. However, if you work regularly for the same employer and can provide them with a written undertaking that they are your only source of employment, then you can be treated as if you are in standard employment and taxed at the normal weekly or monthly rate as per the tax tables.

Casual Employment Notice Period

 

As long as you work 24 hours in a month or more, the notice period for termination would be the same as that for a permanent employee. This depends on the length of time you have been employed:

6 months or less – 1 weeks notice

6 months to 12 months – 2 weeks notice

More than 12 months – 4 weeks notice

However, farmworkers and domestic workers who have worked for more than 6 months are entitled to 4 weeks’ notice.

A collective agreement could reduce the notice period to a minimum of two weeks for those who have worked for more than 12 months.

An employer is entitled to pay the employee out without requiring any further work.

 

Severance Pay

 

Severance pay applies only in the case of retrenchment. Severance pay must equal at least one week’s pay for every year of continuous service. Previous employment with the same employer, broken up by periods of less than one year would be regarded as continuous (unless there was a previous retrenchment).

An employee who unreasonably refuses an offer of alternative work is not entitled to severance pay. See here for some more information about termination from the CCMA.

 

Looking for work?

 

Measured Ability is a recruitment agency and labour broker offering staffing services to all industries nationwide, as well as throughout Africa and the Middle East. Please take a look through our current jobs or upload your CV to our database if you would like us to contact you when future opportunities come up which are suitable for your experience.

 

Need casual labourers / temporary employees?

 

Measured Ability provides white collar recruitment and blue-collar recruitment and labour broking services to all industries nationwide, as well as throughout Africa and the Middle East. Please contact us to find the right solution for your needs.