I went into the similar act in the labour laws of my own country and received this advice:
My Question to the lawyer:
A friend of mine is a member of a religious organisation
[Jehovah’s Witnesses] and was until last month working at that organisations
Branch Office in Krugersdorp. The Branch facility functions as a factory
producing and printing literature for the central organisation known as the
Watchtower Society [NYC] –
As the members who work there are all volunteers they are
required to sign a Vow Of Poverty – they live on-site and they receive free
board and lodging and other services eg laundry is done on site- they received
a small stipend to assist with certain necessary costs – very minimal.
All the work is done by the volunteers themselves – so in
the case of this young person – he worked in the Laundry of the facility and
was involved the all aspects associated with that/
However a decision was taken by the HQ in New York to
cut-back on all their operations world-wide and this led to him being asked to
leave the Branch.
My question is: All the people involved there are “working”
in various functions and depts. and work a 8 – 5h30 day in a wide variety of
functions – some very highly skilled and complex.
Does the fact that they signed a Vow of Poverty at the
beginning of their tenure there Negate the Employer / Employee relationship
as detailed in RSA Labour Law ?? They received no severance of any kind and did
not contribute to Pension and Medical Insurances. They appear to have been left
high and dry !
Are you able to answer me via e-mail?
I believe there was a ruling in a case between the Jehovah’s
Witnesses and the Dept of Labour in about 1995 and the Court upheld their vow
of poverty status ? ! I have not means to access the case docs -
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His reply:
You pose an interesting question..
In terms of our Constitution everyone is entitled to fair labour practices. To give content to this, employment is further governed by several acts of parliament. The Basic Conditions of Employment Act specifically excludes "unpaid volunteers working for an organisation serving a charitable purpose". People doing 'volunteer' work for a religious organisations may or may not fall under this exclusion. The Labour Relations Act (which, amongst other things, protects employees against unfair dismissal and unfair labour practices) does not contain a similar exclusion. However, even if one disregards the exclusion, the two essential components of the employment relationship are the provision for work or assistance in exchange for remuneration. "Remuneration" can be in money "... or in kind".
The more specific question in the case that you mention is whether the stipend, board and lodging and other services could be regarded as "remuneration". This is a factual question which may differ from case to case. A small stipend - intended to cover living expenses only - is unlikely to be regarded as remuneration. However, if it goes (significantly?) beyond that, it may be a different situation altogether. If your friend and his colleagues feel aggrieved, they might want to consult with an expert in labour and employment law. If they intend disputing the termination of their services they would have 30 days after termination to do so.
