October 2007
It is always good when one gets recognition for hard work and readers will be aware of the advice given to establishment owners in our August newsletter concerning BEE compliance. That and other ventures on which we are working right now has led to BnB SURE being approached to sign an MOU with the Tourism Empowerment Council of SA at Government previously called the Tourism BEE Charter Council. In this MOU we commit to the transformation process in the tourism industry and the way in which we are doing this is convey information to our policyholders and brokers as we did in August as there is still a great deal of confusion surrounding the entire BEE process.
We sent out the information from TECSA which was correct at time of distribution of our newsletter but TECSA subsequently changed the rules and immediately advised us so that we could send out an amendment to the newsletter which we did. We have been told by them that as they work towards finding the best and easiest solution they will be making constant changes and we will keep you informed by way of newsflashes or this newsletter. You will find regular articles by Arlene Wilson-Max Director Relationship Executive at TECSA in these newsflashes and newsletters.
SECTORIAL DETERMINATION FOR THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY
This article was published on the Department of Labour Website on the 16th August 2007 and our thanks to the National Accommodation Association for the information
Inspectors have swooped a whopping 391 workplaces throughout Kwazulu Natal employing 6886 employees during it's hospitality blitz inspections. The final inspection report today reveals that the majority of employers inspected (78%) were found to be complying with the minimum wage provisions except for a total of 87 (22%) employers who were underpaying their workers. Inspectors will therefore continue with their routine and unannounced inspections at workplaces as an ongoing activity that will form part of their weekly inspection plans.
Other provisions of the Sectoral Determination for the Hospitality Sector that were contravened include the failure to provide written contracts of employment; non-payment of night shift allowance; payment of the premium rate for Sunday and public holidays worked; deductions for uniforms; commission and tips regarded as payment of wages.
Employers located in the Umhlanga and Westville areas were found to be paying the highest wages for certain categories of employees. In smaller towns such as Vryheid, Paulpietersburg and Kokstad a huge number of employers did not comply.
Hotels were generally found to be more compliant as compared to bed and breakfast establishments, guest farms; restaurants and food outlets which appeared to be struggling to comply. 11 Employers were found to be not registered with the Compensation Fund.
Follow up inspections will be conducted to check whether written undertakings secured during the inspections are adhered to. If employers are still found not to be complying, they will be issued with compliance orders ordering them to comply within 21 days. Should they fail to, their cases will then be referred to the Labour Court for a judgement.
Details of the minimum wages can be found on www.labour.gov.za and click onto “hospitality sector new wages”
EXTENDED PASSENGER LIABILTY SECTION
Over the years we have frequently been asked if we can extend our policy to include the situation where perhaps one partner runs the B&B or guesthouse and the other partner in the business has a tour operating company and our problem has been that we have not been able to provide the passenger liability for this. This has now changed and with immediate effect we are now able to do this. Passenger liability is now available for these vehicles (we have always been able to insure the vehicle itself at a slightly higher rate) up to R20m any one event. In addition we are now able to provide passenger liability for those vehicles larger than the nine seater that can be covered in terms of our standard policy wording, even if used exclusively by the insured for the transportation of his or her own guests. Absa Insurance Co through Cardinal has made this cover available to us as an additional section to our policy.
ANOTHER BENEFIT OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NAA and BnB SURE
Following the executive meeting of the NAA in Mossel Bay on 5 October, the NAA has taken a decision that any member of the NAA who is insured with BnB SURE will benefit from a R50 discount off their annual fee to NAA. This fee discount will apply with immediate effect for any new member to NAA and with effect from renewal in March 2008 to existing members of NAA.
This means then that a member of NAA who insures with BnB SURE enjoys a 15% premium discount off insurance premiums and now a further R50 off their NAA membership fee.
In addition to the savings this means that establishments insured with BnB SURE now not only have the correct insurances as preferred insurance supplier to NAA but they also have the muscle of the largest association in South Africa fighting their cause.
BnBFINDER - Bed and Breakfast locator for Bed and Breakfasts in South Africa
The number of our insured establishments listed on www.bnbfinder.co.za is increasing monthly as are the reservation requests being made to our policyholders. A real value add as BnB SURE continues to put guests into the beds of our policyholders. The service is completely free of charge to BnB SURE policyholders and we urge those policyholders not yet on the site to let us have the information in order that we might include them.
BnB SURE CLUB - Bed And Breakfast Club for Specials and Discounts to members
We remind readers that the BnB SURE Club is still very much in existence supplying virtually everything a B&B or guesthouse might need. With the holiday season almost upon us costs go up dramatically and buying through the Club can save a great deal of money.
We have now made a further decision with regards the club and as a huge “thank you” we have now made it available to our broker friends. When using the facilities the club has to offer simply quote your agency number.
The BnB SURE Club is another way we say thank you to our policyholders and brokers.
BROKER FINDER - Directory of Insurance Brokers in South Africa
Many of our broker friends are already starting to find benefit from this site introduced a few months ago and we are constantly getting feedback of brokers being contacted by potential new clients saying they found them on www.brokerfinder.co.za. We remind brokers that we would like to get a short description of their business (50 words) so that we might include this and also website details so that we can arrange a link to their website. We require only a link back to www.bnbsure.co.za.
We thought we’d also let our Brokers also know that we have got BrokerFinder listed on the Insurance Gateway, Short-term Gateway Consumers Section, in the following categories:
Brokers Services/Backpackers Establishments
Brokers Services/Bed and Breakfast and Guesthouse Insurance
Brokers Services/Hospitality and Tourism
General
This helps all our Brokers listed on BrokerFinder to be more accessible to consumers.
BRANCH OFFICES
Contact details of BnB SURE offices are:
Johannesburg - 011 886-6066 Fax No. 011 886-1725
Cape Town office – 021 948-0432 Fax No. 021 948-3582
Durban office – 031 561-4986 Fax No. 031 561-5741
East London - 043 721-3101 Fax No. 043 721-3112
Managers: Johannesburg – Debbie Smith
Cape Town - Trudy Venter
Durban - Merran Johansson
East London - Lynne Reynolds
BnB SURE ASSIST TOLL FREE LINE
We remind readers that use of the services offered through the BnB Sure Assist toll free line can only be activated by calling toll free on 0800 55 66 77.
THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH:
The better your awareness, the better your choices.
As you make better choices, you will see better results.”
-Robin Sharma
