The Consumer Protection Act (Act 68 of 2008) becomes fully operational in South Africa in October 2010. The Act has far reaching implications for suppliers and retailers, as it now makes South African consumers some of the best protected in the world. It requires businesses to ensure that all their dealings with their customers are fair, reasonable and honest.
Achieving compliance with the Act is not simply a matter of changing a few policies or agreements here and there. Every single employee’s interaction with customers potentially puts the business at risk. Whilst business will have to change their operating procedures, their staff will have to know how the Act affects them, and they will have to change their behaviour. Achieving this across the organization will be no mean feat. After all, how do you get your employees to know and understand a 94 page piece of complex legislation? And the fines for non-compliance are steep: fines of up to 10% of annual turnover or R1 million, whichever is the greater!
To this end, we at Winning Teams are busy developing a self-study course for employees to understand the Consumer Protection Act. We are simplifying, structuring, and de-mystifying the Act. We will develop a handbook for coaches as well as a ‘cheat sheet’ for managers and supervisors. We are packaging this product together with our tried and tested system, and we will be offering it to our clients around August 2010. If you are interested in a preview, send me an email at [info] at [wteams.com].
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