Legal & Labour

Legal Assist

Get telephonic legal advice from in-house attorneys

Our 24-hour telephonic legal advice line is manned by qualified and experienced in-house attorneys who provide guidance and information on all legal matters, 24 hours a day, every day of the year. No matter is too big or too small and our service covers a wide range of legal concerns.

Unlimited general telephonic legal advice on everything form criminal offences, debt and labour matters to fines, contracts, divorce, maintenance issues and motor vehicle accidents.

Where necessary, members have access to one free 30-minute face-to-face consultation, one free letter and a telephone call from one of a national panel of attorneys.

Legal Cost Insurance

24-hour access to an attorney with legal fees at a minimal monthly premium

Protect yourself and your family with an insurance plan that indemnifies you against legal expenses and provides professional advice and assistance on legal matters.

Various options available with a range of premiums, offering a variety of cover including:

• Preventative law e.g. advice, review, preparation of relevant documents
• Wills, trusts and antenuptial contracts
• Contraction actions due to breach of written contract
• Delictual actions caused by wrongful deeds, e.g. damages to vehicles involved in an accident
• Criminal proceedings e.g. bail applications, legal representation
• Identity theft insurance
• Matrimonial actions
• Miscellaneous legal matters

Claims are managed and assessed by qualified attorneys and where a member is referred to a panel attorney, fees are incurred at preferential pre-agreed rates with the result that annual cover lasts longer and gives the member access to more legal assistance.

ID Assist

Protect your identity from fraudulent use

A 24-hour telephonic advice line, manned by qualified and admitted attorneys, offering immediate assistance when identity fraud, loss or theft is experienced.

When identity loss or theft is experienced, ID Assist primarily assists you to prevent any identity information or document from being used illegally. The support line puts you in touch with relevant institutions or companies to block or stop cards or contracts.

In addition, ID Assist facilitates and provides disbursement cover for the replacement of ID and related documentation such as driver’s license etc. and legal costs related to the removal of any civil judgment, criminal conviction or incorrect credit report information incorrectly obtained against you as a result of the ID theft.

Labour Assist

Trusted provider of talent management, employee relations, labour law and payroll solutions.

In any business, it’s a fact that your people are your biggest asset and probably your highest cost. It makes sense then that your human resources requirements are handled by specialists.

Labour Assist is a leading Johannesburg-based Human Resource consultancy since 1999. The company understands that improving your people management has a direct influence on your employee relationships, your clients and your bottom line. A team of highly skilled and experienced practitioners assists a largely corporate client base (including some of the biggest names and brands in the market place) with all their talent management, employee relations, labour law and payroll needs. It’s time to focus on your business and let the professionals take care of you and your people.

Labour Law Outsourcing

Our team of admitted attorneys is available to either consult telephonically or face-to-face with regard to any Labour Law or Industrial Relations problems that you might experience.

Human Resource Outsourcing – free up your time and focus on generating revenue

• HR Audits – we audit your HR documents, policies, processes and systems against the plethora of labour legislations.

• Drafting of Employment Documents – we draft all types of employment documents including various employment and contractor agreements; employee handbooks; policies and codes. Our documents are easy to read and understand.

• Performance Management and Consulting – we assist with job profiling and the creation of a meaningful performance management system. We also offer training on implementing the system.

• Salary Benchmarking - we supply the data to ensure your remuneration is market-related.

• Discipline Management – we assist with all disciplinary matters including the chairing of disciplinary hearings and appeals.

• Restructuring and Retrenchment – we assist with the complete facilitation of restructuring and retrenchments which includes staff discussions and the conclusion of retrenchment settlement agreements.

• Employment Equity Planning and Reporting – we ensure that your EE Plan and Reports are fully compliant with the EE Act and its Code of Good Practice. We will assist with the setting up of an EE Consultative Forum, train the forum, and draft and compile your Reports.

• Skills Development - we will advise, guide and assist you with your skills development planning and reporting.

• Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment – under our guidance, we will ensure that you secure the best possible BEE rating.

• Telephonic Assistance – 24/7 availability.

Payroll Outsourcing - It pays to outsource your payroll

Cost effective, professional and personalised payroll assistance for small, medium and large businesses.

Labour Assist’s provides you with advice and assistance for all aspects of payroll management including advice on remuneration structuring, monthly administration of payroll and facilitation of all third party payments.

Save time, reduce costs, avoid SARS penalties and decrease frustration by outsourcing this non-core function to Labour Assist Payroll Services.

Keep your Credit in Check with Kudough

In a tough economic climate, there has never been a more important time to be in touch with your credit life. With Kudough, you have the opportunity to get a picture of your actual credit rating. Kudough is a credit solutions company that compares your credit information from three main credit bureaus and shows you how to improve your credit status.

Using simple but powerful comparative reports, Kudough plots each consumer’s credit worthiness according to the Kudough Status, a ranking which plots each consumer from A+ (Excellent) to an F (Poor). A Kudough Credit Report incorporates your credit scores, account activity, debt utilisation and affordability. The process analyses potential trouble-areas and identifies opportunities you never knew you had.

Kudough delivers real time behavioural data to the consumer wherever they are, via our expert call centre, web or mobi sites. Consumers can benefit from tools like Debt Assessments, Status Simulators, Journey Trackers, Identity Theft Managers and a consolidated dashboard that shows you how you are progressing on a positive credit path. Kudough is designed to assist South African consumers become more engaged and in control of their financial life than ever before.

In a world first, credit reports are now accessible by all consumers through a national footprint and not only limited to those with internet access. This is through the establishment of Kudough in over 500 Shoprite stores last year. With the launch of the mobi site, Randgo discount benefits have been added for enhanced consumer value.

Tax & Financial Assist

Take the stress and jargon out of personal tax and finances

This help line offers guidance and information on taxation and finance related matters to enable you to make informed decisions about your financial status.

Simply log a request for assistance with the call centre agent and an expert tax or financial consultant will call back at no cost to you.

Tax and financial assist is a low cost, no-risk value added benefit promoting effective financial management.

WiseCall CrimeLine in Partnership with Europ Assistance South Africa

What is the CrimeLine?

CrimeLine is an employee-friendly toll-free crime reporting line which enables and encourages employees to contribute to the eradication of planned or existing fraud and theft. It is a tool which gives employees the opportunity to report, and indirectly right, wrongdoing within their company.

CrimeLine is staffed by a compliment of specialised and multilingual legal advisors who are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Crimeline is totally independent – ensuring objectivity, impartiality and absolute fairness. Furthermore, all information is strictly confidential and the caller is assured of his or her complete anonymity at all times (Protected Disclosures Act – South Africa

Corporate Governance

The following resulted in the necessity of this service:

• In 1994 the King Report on Corporate Governance (King I) was published by the King Committee on Corporate Governance, headed by former High Court Judge, Mervyn King S.C. The King I report, incorporating a Code of Corporate Practices and Conduct, which was the first of its kind in the country and was aimed at promoting the highest standards of Corporate Governance in South Africa.

• Due to the evolving global economic environment and recent legislative developments, the King Committee on Corporate Governance further developed the King Report on Corporate Governance for South Africa in 2002 (King II).

• The committee identified various risks to address which also included the risks of fraud / theft at the workplace.

• The committee suggested that the employees should have the ability to report any such irregularities; this should be introduced by management. [extract from the report: “…the company should also consider the need for a confidential reporting process (whistle-blowing) covering fraud and other risks…”]

This resulted in various companies introducing such reporting structures which proved to be successful, but unfortunately lead to extreme cases of victimisation of the individuals who had the courage to report such a matters