“Wisdom is like the mighty baobab. No one individual can embrace it.” African proverb

Consulting

We only work with the best. Our subject matter experts look at the law differently. They are focused on simplifying and demystifying complicated legal jargon and making the law accessible to everyone. We try really hard to make sure that your employees understand what they can and cannot do and that they only get trained on what they need to know.

A one-size-fits-all approach does not mitigate risk. Your compliance programme must highlight and address the risks to which your employees are exposed. Your policies and training content must be relevant and up to date. To help you, our subject matter experts will consult with you to understand your risks and to ensure that your compliance programme does what it is supposed to do: mitigate your risk.

In order to do that, we need to understand your business and the challenges you face. We don’t need hours to do this, because our experts have years of experience across all industries – from IT to pharmaceutical, from automotive to financial services, from agriculture to mining – we understand business and risk.

Policies

Simple, clear and jargon-free policies, guidelines and procedures are essential to effectively mitigate risk. We will assess your current policies and procedures or assist you to develop these if you need our help. We have tried and tested policy templates and frameworks that can help you to implement relevant and easy to understand policies, guidelines and procedures in a cost efficient manner. We also make sure that the training content is aligned with your policies and procedures.

Training

Compliance training only mitigates risk if it is done right. Irrespective of the method used – workshops or e-learning – training must be relevant, easy to understand and must be aligned with your company policies and procedures.

Whether you choose a workshop, e-learning or a blended approach, our subject matter experts make sure that the training content for your company highlights and reflects your risk areas. We include relevant company and industry examples in the content and link your policies and procedures to the training content.

We provide practical Do’s and Don’ts in printable format on our e-learning platform and hand-outs during our workshops.

We know what works: helping your employees understand risk is important to us.

Workshops

Our workshops are interactive. We use the latest technology to ensure that your employees remain engaged throughout the presentation.

Our workshop content is aligned with our e-learning content and is scenario-based and practical.

We come to you or can arrange for a suitable venue.

Competition law
Dawn Raids
Protection of Personal Information Act (POPI)
Consumer Protection Act
Anti-bribery and Corruption (ABC)
FICA and FAIS
National Credit Act
Social Media
Marketing and the law

e-Learning

E-learning is the quickest and most cost-effective way to do the following:

Raise awareness on the high risk areas relevant to your business
Train geographically dispersed employees
Test what employees understand and what not
Monitor and report on training results

Our learner management system has been specifically developed with the following in mind:

Compliance training is important
Your employees are not lawyers and they are busy
English is not everyone’s first language
Technology should be helpful, not over bearing
Successful completion is non-negotiable
Training budgets are limited
Someone is responsible if things go wrong

Because we understand this, our e-learning programmes are written in non-technical language, available in multiple languages, easy to access and complete and cost efficient to customise and implement. We make sure that our trainees understand what they need to know, that they complete their training and that reporting and monitoring is easy.

Programmes

Competition Law

Non-compliance with competition laws comes at a high price: fines, reputational damage and the possibility of jail time in some jurisdictions.

A competition law compliance programme should be an integral part of corporate risk management. Every organisation – big or small- should have one.

Let Compliance Online help you implement a programme that complies with the requirements of international competition authorities. Why settle for anything that will not be considered as a mitigating factor by the authorities should a breach occur?

Compliance Online is an expert service provider in this field. We have more than 15 years of experience and have assisted some of the biggest corporate entities in South Africa with their competition law compliance training programmes.

Click here to see who is using our competition law training programme.

We offer the following services:

Assistance with the drafting of a competition law compliance programme that complies with the requirements of the South African Competition Authorities
A range of competition law e-learning programmes, including:
- A practical guide to Competition Law
- How to deal with a Dawn Raid
- Competition law for Industry Associations
- Competition law for the Construction Industry
- Competition law for the Mining Industry
- Competition law for the Pharmaceutical Industry
- Competition law for the Telecommunication industry
- Competition law: a refresher
A Dawn Raid Alert tool that allows for instant electronic step-by-step instructions to be sent to all employees and your external lawyers in the event of a dawn raid
Awareness raising and workshop tools

In line with the requirements of international competition authorities, all of our competition law programmes are customised to include real-life examples and practical scenarios.

Our competition law programmes are content driven, accessible anywhere 24/7 and easy to implement and monitor.

Let us help you gain a competitive edge through compliance – contact us for more on our competition law programmes.

Dawn Raid Training

A “dawn raid” is an unannounced visit by a regulatory authority or the police to a company’s premises to inspect documents and interview staff where the authority suspects that the company or its employees may have been involved in illegal activities.

There are many authorities which have the power to conduct unannounced site visits to your business premises. These include:

Commission for Employment Equity
Companies and Intellectual Property Commission
Competition Commission
Department of Communications
Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
Department of Health
Department of Safety and Security
South African Police Service
South African Revenue Service

Companies and individuals who obstruct any lawful inspection by a regulatory authority or the police may be guilty of an offence and subject to sanctions.

Let us help you to train and prepare your employees for such a visit.

Protection of Personal Information Act (POPI)

The Protection of Personal Information Act (POPI) sets conditions for how your business may process personal information. It has been signed by the President and is law. Once the commencement date is announced, your business will have one year to comply or face significant consequences.

Let us help you assess your risk and train your employees on this important legislation. We offer a comprehensive training programme that covers the following topics:

What is POPI and who must comply?
What is personal information?
When is information “processed”?
What are the rules that you must comply with when processing information?
What are the practical steps your business needs to take to ensure compliance with POPI?
What are the consequences for non-compliance?

Our programme allows for employees to provide feedback on the type of information that they process and their view on how compliant your current processing is with POPI. This tool offers a unique opportunity to obtain a high level assessment of the potential risks your business may be exposed to in regard to POPI.

Let us help you prepare for POPI – contact us to assist you with a pro-active approach to raise awareness about POPI in your business.

Social Media in the Workplace

Social media has taken the world by storm and you should make sure that your company isn’t left out in the cold. If your business is not prepared for and informed of the multitude of dangers on social media, your employees could face disciplinary action, dismissal or civil and criminal law suits and your business could suffer severe damage to your reputation.

We offer a unique, easy-to-understand social media programme that is equally relevant to those who spend all day on social media and those who still don’t know what a ‘Tweet’ is. Our topics include the following:

What is social media and social media networks?
How have social media networks changed communication?
Why is it important to understand how social media networks work?
Should companies avoid using social media networks to protect their brand?
Is social media regulated by the law?
What laws apply to social media?
Social networking: what can go wrong?
Can a social media post be defamatory?
What is defamation?
What are the rules for social media use?
What must employees never do on social media?
Am I liable if I simply retweet, repost, reblog or share someone else’s post?
Can my company be held liable for my unacceptable conduct on social media networks?
What are my rights on social media?
May my employer spy on me on social media?
Are my social media posts private?
What are the consequences of unacceptable conduct online?
What is a personal social media audit?

Social media is here to stay – let us help you traverse the dangers of social media today!

Consumer Protection Act (CPA)

The CPA creates a myriad of consumer rights and corresponding obligations for all businesses that supply goods or services to consumers.

Whether your business is a producer, importer, distributor, franchisor or retailer, it needs to train its employees on the CPA. Let us help you identify your CPA risks and implement a training programme that addresses those risks – adequately and appropriately.

We offer a range of CPA modules from which you can select the appropriate combination to compile a unique CPA programme that addresses the needs of your business. Module topics include:

What is the CPA and who does it apply to and protect?
What are the powers of the Consumer Authorities?
What rights does the CPA give Consumers?
What obligations does the CPA place on business?
Marketing and the CPA
Labelling, pricing and the CPA
Your agreements and the CPA
Supplier warranties and liability
Lay-byes, pre-paid facilities and returns of consumer property
Business names and trade marks
Franchise agreements and the CPA
Fixed term agreements and the CPA

Let us help you unpack the CPA – contact us for a comprehensive and easy-to-understand training programme.

Anti-corruption

Corruption – in all its different forms – is now recognised to be one of the world’s greatest challenges. It has a negative impact on everyone: individuals, communities, businesses and the country as a whole.

Our anti-corruption programme contains modules that explain – in plain language – the relevant provisions of a broad range of legislation that aim to curb corruption.