eSwatini
Wages Act, 1964
Act 16 of 1964
- Commenced on 19 June 1964
- [This is the version of this document at 1 December 1998.]
Part I – Preliminary
1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Wages Act, 1964.2. Interpretation
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—“authorized officer” means a person who is an authorized officer under section 20;[Replaced A.10/1981]“board” means the Wages Advisory Board established under section 4;“collective agreement” means an agreement in writing covering terms and conditions of employment and procedures for the settlement of disputes and grievances, concluded by a joint industrial council, or by a works council; or by a works council; or by an employer, or group of employers or an employers association or the one hand and an industry union or staff association on the other hand;[Added A.10/1981]“council” means wages council established under section 6;“contract of employment” means a contract of service, apprenticeship or traineeship whether it is express or implied and, if it is express, whether it is oral or in writing;[Added A.10/1981]“employee” means any person to whom wages are paid or are payable under a contract of employment;[Replaced A.10/1981]“employer” means any person or undertaking, contractor, corporation, public authority or body of persons who or which has entered into a contract of employment with an employee and includes—(a)any agent, representative, foreman or manager of such person, undertaking, corporation, public authority or body of persons who is placed in authority over that employee; and(b)in the case of any such person—(i)who has died, his executor;(ii)who has become of unsound mind, his Curator Bonis;(iii)who has become insolvent, the trustee of his insolvent estate;(iv)who is a company in liquidation, the liquidator of the company.[Replaced A.10/1981]“joint industrial council” means a body established as such under the Industrial Relations Act, 1980;[Added A.10/1981]“Labour Commissioner” means the person appointed in the public service to be the Labour Commissioner and includes any person authorized in writing to act on his behalf;[Replaced A.10/1981]“Minister” means the Minister of Enterprise and Employment;“statutory minimum wage” means wage fixed by a wages regulation order;“wages council establishment order” means an order made under section 6 establishing a council;“wages order” means an order made under section 5(5):“wages regulation order” means an order made under section 11;[Replaced A.10/1981]“wages regulation proposals” means an proposals made under section 11(1).“works council” has the same meaning as in the Industrial Relations Act, 1980;[Added A.10/1981]3. Application
This Act shall apply to employment with, by or under the Government, other than to employment in the Royal Swaziland Police Force, the Umbutfo Swaziland Defence Force and the Swaziland Correctional Service or such other employment as the Minister may, by notice in the Gazette, determine.Part II – Establishment of Wages Advisory Board
4. Establishment of Wages Advisory Board (First Schedule)
5. Functions of board
Part III – Establishment of wages councils
6. Establishment of wages councils (Second Schedule)
7. Jurisdiction of councils
8. Making of wages council establishment order
9. Variation and revocation of wages council establishment order
10. Representations by employers and employees
Employers and employees in any industry may make representations to the Minister for the establishment of a wages council for that industry, or the abolition of a council where one has been established.Part IV – Wages regulation orders
11. Power to fix wages and conditions of employment
12. Saving as to rights conferred by other laws
No order made under section (5) or (11) shall have effect so as to prejudice any rights touching conditions of employment, holidays or remunerations conferred upon any worker by or under the provisions of any other law.13. Agreement and arbitration awards
If the Minister is satisfied that a collective agreement relating to wages or conditions of employment has been made which covers substantially the greater proportion of the employers and the employees in an industry, he may make an order regulating wages or conditions in accordance with that agreement and cause such order to be published in the Gazette and in a newspaper published in Swaziland, and from the date specified in the order, the order shall take effect in relation to all the employers and the employees in that industry as though it had been a wages regulation order made as a result of wages council proposals made by a wages council.[Replaced A.10/1981]14. Benefits provided by the employer
15. Effect and enforcement of wages regulation orders
16. Permits to infirm and incapacitated persons
If the Labour Commissioner is satisfied that any person, employed or desiring to be employed in such circumstances that a wages regulation order applies or will apply to him, is affected by any infirmity or physical injury or disablement, the Labour Commissioner may, if he thinks fit, issue to that person, subject to such terms, if any, as he may determine, a permit exempting the employer of the person from the provisions of this Act relating to the payment of the statutory minimum wage or observance of conditions of employment and, while the permit is in force, the employer is not liable to any penalty for paying wages to the person employed at a rate less than the statutory minimum wage or failing to observe those conditions so long as any terms determined by the Labour Commissioner on the grant of the permit are complied with.17. Prohibition of premiums
18. Records and notices
19. Criminal liability of superior employer and special defence open to employer
20. Authorized officers
21. Powers of authorized officers
22. Penalty for obstructing authorized officers, etc.
Any person who obstructs an authorized officer in the exercise of any power conferred by this Act, or refuses to comply with any requirement of such officer made in the exercise of such a power, shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding two hundred emalangeni.23. Penalty for false entries or records, producing false records or giving false information
Any person shall be guilty of an offence and liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding two hundred emalangeni or imprisonment not exceeding six months, or both, who—Part V – General
24. Regulations
The Minister may make regulations prescribing anything which, by this Act, may be prescribed and, generally, for the better carrying into effect of the provisions of this Act.25. Expenses
Any expenses incurred in carrying this Act into operation shall be defrayed out of the general revenues of Swaziland.History of this document
01 December 1998 this version
Consolidation
19 June 1964
Commenced