By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Retail group Pick n Pay has initiated a Section 189 process, proposing various changes to employment conditions including cuts to Sunday pay and new rosters that will require full-time staff to work weekends.
The retailer explained that the process is aimed at improving flexibility and operational efficiency.
It is needed to ensure the business remains responsive and competitive in a rapidly changing retail environment.
Group CEO Sean Summers contends that the group’s employment conditions are “significantly more generous “than competitors.
Summers warns that the company’s future is at risk without these changes.
The process is not at all intended to reduce the headcount, but rather to “bring the retailer’s labour practices more into line with its competitors to compete on an even footing”.
Pick n Pay’s share price fell around 3% following the announcement on the JSE.
Summers said: “We must now address a critical reality that our current store labour model has been out of balance in the marketplace for some time.”
“While established with positive intention, these structures have become increasingly complex, reducing flexibility and our ability to respond to retail trends and customer demands.”
“If we are to compete on an equal footing in an increasingly constrained marketplace, we can no longer sustain structures that are materially above market norms, especially while trying to return the business to profitability.”