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Filter: Business
Can I run a business from a residential property?

14 September 2021,  Cleopatra Mukhari

I’m looking at buying an old house and renovating such to use as offices for my general medical practice. In... the area that I’m looking at there are a number of small businesses also operating from houses. However, I want to make sure I’m allowed to run my practice from this property. How can I do that?

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Article
The impact of the new Cybercrimes Act on businesses

14 July 2021,  Nanette Janse van Rensburg

My business operates in the electronic communications sector and I’m a little concerned as to what the new Cybercrimes Act... will mean for us and how it can affect my business. Can you shed any light on this?

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1346
Article
The Information Officer and POPIA: What you need to know

20 May 2021

I am the compliance officer for our retail business. I’m aware of the deadline of 1 July 2021 to be... POPIA compliant and we are busy putting the necessary in place. I’ve recently heard that the Information Regulator now requires information officers to be registered with the Information Regulator. Is this true and what are the main responsibilities of an information officer?

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1473
Article
The benefits of learnerships for your business

20 May 2021

I have been informed by a colleague that I may need to look at implementing learnerships to improve the BEE... level of my company. How do learnerships work and can they really provide such a benefit?

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1560
Article
Dismissed for refusing the Covid-19 vaccine - is that fair?

17 March 2021

With the words “I have been vaccinated!” being common among our healthcare workers these days, it is natural to start... wondering whether your job may be at risk for refusing to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Right now there is no law in South Africa that obligates an employee to receive the Covid-19 vaccine.  In fact, there is no legislation which regulates the circumstances under which an employer may force an employee to undergo medical treatment as opposed to medical testing. Medical testing is defined by the Employment Equity Act to mean a test, inquiry or other means designed to establish an employee’s medical condition.Medical testing of an employee is prohibited unless legislation permits or requires the testing or it is justifiable in the light of medical facts, employment conditions, social policy, the fair distribution of employee benefits or the inherent requirements of a job. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa guarantees our rights to bodily integrity, privacy and security over one’s body. However, it is common knowledge that our constitutional rights are not absolute and may be limited under certain circumstances. An employee may refuse to take the vaccination over concerns of possible adverse reaction to the vaccine, religious and cultural beliefs and the employer may not unfairly discriminate against an employee who refuses to receive the Covid-19 vaccine for whatever personal and/or medical reasons.  Notwithstanding the above, an employee may be compelled to receive the Covid-19 vaccine where failure to do so may create a greater risk to the public health. This may be in instances where the employee’s duties call for heightened levels of contact with the general public. In this regard, employees must be aware that employers are obligated to provide and maintain a safety working environment in so far as it is reasonably practicable to do so.  Consent remains essential in matters involving the personal affairs of the employee, and the employee must have given informed consent before any medical treatment is administered. An employer who therefore dismisses an employee for refusing to receive the Covid-19 vaccination may be under a strenuous duty to prove that the instruction to the employee was a reasonable one and that the failure by the employee to follow such an instruction constituted insubordination which warranted the dismissal. The consequence of this act of insubordination needs to be that it creates a greater risk to the health of other employees and renders it nearly impossible for the employer to maintain a safe working environment as required by law.While there is a lacuna in our employment legislation for the compulsory administration of the Covid-19 vaccine, such treatment may be permitted by the employment conditions, social policy or the inherent requirements of a job. This requires that a thorough balancing of the employer’s obligations in terms of maintaining safety in the working place must be done against the conflicting rights of the employees not to be unfairly discriminated against or victimised for exercising their rights in terms of the applicable legislation.In this, instance if the Employer can prove on the specific facts of this case that dismissal was an appropriate and fair sanction, then the dismissal would be fair. Generally though, discipline ought to be imposed in a corrective and progressive manner which means that dismissal would only be reserved for the gravest of offences.

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1304
Blog
The final say on business interruption insurance and Covid-19

16 March 2021

I’ve been following the media reports relating to the Café Chameleon case and their claim that their business interruption insurance... covers losses suffered due to Covid-19. The last I heard was that this case was being appealed by the insurer. I have a similar argument going with my insurers, and would like to know whether there is any finality yet on the matter.

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1500
Article
Who must submit a compliance report in terms of section 13G of the B-BBEE Act?

16 March 2021,  Marc Naude

I recently saw an article about the B-BBEE Commission requiring BEE compliance reports to be submitted to it. I don’t... really know what a compliance report is or who must submit such. Will my business have to do this?

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Article
Why the company secretary is a business superpower

15 February 2021,  Mulalo Mokgoro

The title “company secretary” brings to mind a picture of an administrative secretary who attends to scheduling of your diary... and answering phones calls on behalf of your company. The company secretary is not the aforementioned but rather a specialised role regulated by the Companies Act of 2008. This position is mostly occupied by individuals or juristic persons who possess specialised governance knowledge with a legal qualification. A company secretary’s duties as regulated by the Companies Act include, but are not restricted to - providing the directors of the company collectively and individually with guidance as to their duties, responsibilities and powers; making the directors aware of any law relevant to or affecting the company; reporting to the company’s board any failure on the part of the company or a director to comply with the Memorandum of Incorporation or rules of the company; ensuring that minutes of all shareholders meetings, board meetings and the meetings of any committees of the directors, or of the company’s audit committee, are properly recorded; certifying in the company’s annual financial statements whether the company has filed required returns and notices in terms of the Companies Act, and whether all such returns and notices appear to be true, correct and up to date; and ensuring that a copy of the company’s annual financial statements is sent, in accordance with this Act, to every person who is entitled to it. With most companies adopting a “work from home” system as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, company secretaries have had to ensure that businesses adopt policies which enable employees to work from home in a more structured and controlled setting. Company secretaries have also been zooming in on a business’s founding documents to ensure that the documents allow for conducting of virtual board and shareholders meetings and decision making by way of electronic resolutions.The King IV report on corporate governance recommends that a board of directors must satisfy itself on the competence, qualifications and experience of a company secretary and appoint one to ensure that it receives adequate guidance and advice on corporate governance matters. Avoid the appointment of unskilled and unqualified persons to render company secretariat services for your business as you may risk being found non-compliant in respect of applicable legislative prescripts. Your business requires a company secretary that is thoroughly knowledgeable as regards current legislation and court decisions in order to adequately update the board of directors on laws and compliance matters which may affect your business.Please contact our offices for more insight into this role.

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1724
Blog
5 reasons why POPIA is not a curse word

03 February 2021,  Dr Damian Viviers

POPIA has for years, and especially since coming into effect on 01 July 2020, attracted significant attention. While this legislation... does of course place new compliance obligations on businesses during a time of economic difficulty and uncertainty left in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is certainly not bad news, whether seen from a business or personal perspective. Here are five reasons why the coming into effect of POPIA is actually a really good thing:1. The flow of personal information is now better regulated – POPIA imposes new rules and accountability for how personal information may be used and shared.2. Data Security – POPIA requires that any entity in the possession of your personal information must take active measures to ensure that they keep your information safe and secure.3. Access to information – Any entity that is in possession of your personal information must at your request, provide confirmation that they do have such information and provide you with access to that information.4. Notification -  POPIA requires that if a business has experienced a data breach during which your personal information has been compromised or leaked they must inform you of any such breach and any measures they have taken in order to remedy the breach.5. Quality marketing – POPIA has changed the rules regarding electronic direct marketing and essentially requires businesses, of which you are not an existing client or customer, to obtain your consent before they can market their goods and services to you.Hence, five solid reasons not to view POPIA as a curse word - but rather as legislation that does in fact, make our world a better place. 

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Blog
51% black equity tender pre-qualification criteria found to be invalid

06 January 2021,  Kitso Tshipa

My business is 26% black owned but has been excluded from a number of tenders because of pre-qualification criteria for... tenders being set at being at least 51% black owned. I’ve seen in the news though that this practice has been scratched by the courts. Is this true?

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1446
Article
What Covid tax relief measures can my company qualify for?

06 January 2021,  Mulalo Mokgoro

I have a construction company which has been hard hit by the Covid-pandemic and although I have managed to keep... our doors open and not retrench my employees, we are in dire straits. I understand that there are some tax relief measures which I can access to assist my company. Is this true?

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1523
Article
2021: The year of POPIA

01 January 2021

The year 2021 is here, being the year that businesses will have to become POPIA compliant or face the risk... of being held accountable under the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013. It is therefore quite appropriate to prioritise POPIA compliance as one of your main New Year’s resolutions.  In the spirit of helping you ease into POPIA compliance, here are a few handy tips that can help you kickstart your POPIA compliance project:   Tip 1: Assemble a POPIA compliance project team Determine who will be the Information Officer and Deputy Information Officers for your business. The Information Officer is an individual within an entity or institution, who is charged with ensuring compliance with POPIA and being responsible for the governance, management and security of personal information. The default Information Officer will generally be the executive head of that entity or institution, as well as any person duly appointed by the Information Officer to perform his or her duties. After identifying the above individuals, consider adding the IT-person, HR, sales and legal to the POPIA compliance team to ensure that all bases of your business are covered, as these different departments may offer valuable insight on how POPIA should be implemented practically across the full spectrum of your business. Tip 2: Conduct a preliminary investigation Now that you have a task force assembled, get the POPIA compliance team to consider the following as a preliminary investigation aimed to establish how your business processes personal information:  What customer information does your business collect? Think about type and sensitivity, and whether it qualifies as personal information. How does your business store the customer information which you collect? Do you store everything online or in hard copy format? Where is the customer information stored and who has access thereto? Think about what information is accessed by all employees, what is limited to sales, HR versus the IT department or management. Is the information of customers transferred to any third-party operators? For example, for storage or destruction purposes? What employee information do you have and where do you store it? Who has access to employees HR files and to which third-parties is information shared (such as pension funds, medical aid, etc.)? What services providers does your business use and do they have access to your customer or employee information? How secure is the personal information which you store (think about physical barriers as well as technical security measures such as anti-virus programmes which you use)? Does your business engage in direct marketing and how is this done (electronically or by telephone/in person)? How is the personal information that your business collects and stores eventually destroyed? Is the method of destruction and/or deletion secure? Does your business sell any data that may contain personal information of others? Tip 3: Work out a budget Once you have an idea of what needs to happen and who will be on the POPIA compliance team for your business, you can get a better sense of how much outside help you will most likely need in order to become POPIA compliant.  Remember to include POPIA compliance in your annual budget planning. Ask a few service providers to send quotes to get the compliance process started Tip 4: Ask for help and approach experts Don’t be scared to approach legal and IT experts for assistance to become fully POPIA compliant as data and privacy protection is a specialised field. Most businesses will not have the necessary tools or knowledge to do everything themselves and this is okay. Specialists will be happy to assist you on gaining compliance. Tip 5: Review your current policies Get updated copies of all your policies which may involve elements related to the processing of information (think information security management, marketing or HR policies) and review them or have them reviewed by legal experts. Consider whether these policies contain anything relating to personal information and whether it adequately describes how such information will be protected or sets out measures to be taken in order to ensure that data is handled in a secure manner. If gaps are identified in certain policies, make a list for future reference in order to include in your POPIA compliance plan and which can policies can be updated and implemented over time. Tip 6: Draft a POPIA compliance plan and policy Plan on how to achieve POPIA compliance and incorporate it in a formal business plan. This plan should clearly set out how your business will aim to become POPIA compliant and have set deadlines to achieve identified goals. The ultimate aim is to develop an overarching POPIA policy  which sets out the implementation plan and how the business deals with the processing of personal information in a manner which is consistent with the provisions of POPIA from point of initial contact to destruction/deletion of such information. This is the year of POPIA, but it need not be daunting task if the right building blocks are put in place at the start. Don’t procrastinate until it’s too late – get the ball rolling this new year and kickstart your compliance project while there is still time to become compliant. Should you need help, we have a range of POPIA related solutions ranging from online training solutions to extensive POPIA compliance plans that can be tailored for your business’ needs and to assist you with your POPIA compliance.

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Blog

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