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INLSA<\/p>\n
The CCMA has ruled that Jabulani Cele (pictured) who was fired for bringing non-halaal food to work, must be reinstated with backpay.<\/p>\n
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KFC has to reinstate and give backpay to an Empangeni employee who was fired for bringing non-halaal food to work. <\/p>\n
Jabulani Cele resumes work at the KFC branch in the Zululand town today. <\/p>\n
The Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) has overturned his employer\u2019s decision to fire him. <\/p>\n
The CCMA made its finding public on Friday. <\/p>\n
It ordered Colefax Trading (Pty) Ltd and Yum Restaurants to allow Cele to return to work before 1pm today. <\/p>\n
Colefax and Yum own a string of KFC restaurants around the country. Because they follow Islamic laws, they have a policy that forbids employees from bringing food to work. <\/p>\n
The commission ordered that Cele be paid R5 200 \u2013 backpay for two months \u2013 and that he be allowed to bring his own food to work. <\/p>\n
KFC chief marketing officer Dave Timm confirmed Cele\u2019s reinstatement. <\/p>\n
The trouble started when Cele, 31, refused to submit to the rule and waded into hot water in March when he took his lunchbox, which contained phuthu and bean curry, into the KFC branch where he worked. <\/p>\n
He was immediately handed a letter of final written warning, which he refused to sign, maintaining he had a right to bring his food to work. <\/p>\n
He was suspended and later hauled before a disciplinary hearing, which found him guilty of breaching the policy. <\/p>\n
He was fired from his job, which he had held for six years. <\/p>\n
KFC Empangeni provides its employees with two pieces of chicken a day. <\/p>\n
Cele said he did not like chicken, which was why he preferred to bring his own lunch. <\/p>\n
Timm said in a statement that KFC did not have a policy that prohibited staff from bringing food into its stores. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt does have strict policies requiring staff to keep their food in designated areas to prevent the cross-contamination of foods with those prepared and served to customers,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
He added that the policy that led to Cele being fired was in line with global best practice in food safety. <\/p>\n
He could not say whether it would be reviewed in the light of the latest development. <\/p>\n
The CCMA ruled: \u201cThe applicant may take his food to work subject to the respondent\u2019s policies, which will be drafted in consultation with the union.\u201d <\/p>\n
Bheki Shabane, provincial secretary of the United Chemical Industries Mining Electrical State Health and Aligned Workers Union, said Cele\u2019s employer had pledged |to consult the union before passing policies that affected workers. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe were concerned that this policy would influence all 91 KFC restaurants around the country,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe would like other people who are affected by such policies to consult us.\u201d <\/p>\n
Cele, a father of two, said he was \u201cecstatic\u201d to have his |job back and that the CCMA |ruling would benefit his colleagues, who were also prevented from bringing their food to work. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut I\u2019m also concerned that I will now be intimidated,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m happy that, through my case, there will be changes to this oppressive policy. Shabane is a strong guy when it comes to fighting for workers\u2019 rights.\u201d <\/p>\n
The union has also asked the CCMA to demand that KFC withdraw a final warning issued to a fellow employee of Cele, Nokuthula Buthelezi, who was also accused of bringing food to work. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
INLSA The CCMA has ruled that Jabulani Cele (pictured) who was fired for bringing non-halaal food to work, must be reinstated with backpay. KFC has to reinstate and give backpay to an Empangeni employee who was fired for bringing non-halaal food to work. Jabulani Cele resumes work at the KFC branch in the Zululand town […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[8275,953,2143],"class_list":{"0":"post-13450","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-south-africa","7":"tag-durban","8":"tag-newspaper","9":"tag-the-mercury","10":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13450\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}