South Africa’s new labour policies
The Department of Labour has published a series of amendment bills proposing changes to three existing legislative acts tackling critical issues within the South African labour market.
The amendments are being introduced in an attempt to address and regulate the growing ‘casualisation’ of work that has become a feature of the labour market over the past decade.
According to the government the amendment will:
- Ensure decent work for all workers
- Protect the employment relationship
- Avoid exploitation of workers
- Introduce laws to regulate contract work, subcontracting and outsourcing
- Address the problem of labour broking and prohibit abusive practices
- Facilitate unionisation of workers
- Ensure the right to permanent employment for affected workers
The bills propose changes to the following acts: The Labour Relations Act (LRA), the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA), and the Employment Equity (EE) Act.
Changes proposed under the Labour Relations Bill 2010 aim to:
- Stop the practice of repeated contracting for short-term periods
- Give greater certainty to the employment relationship by introducing a new definition of employer and employee
- Enhance the efficiency of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation & Arbitration (CCMA’s) operations
Changes proposed under the Basic Conditions of Employment Bill 2010 aim to:
- Allow trade unions to have certain organisational rights of access to employer premises
- Align the Act with South Africa’s international law obligations in terms of the International
- Labour Organisation Convention (No. 182) on the Worst Forms of Child Labour
Changes proposed under the Employment Equity Amendment Bill 2010 aim to:
- Ensure that employees who work for the same employer receive the same pay as other employees doing the same or substantially the same work
- Strengthen enforcement mechanisms which empower the Director-General to impose fines on non-complying employers
The Department of Labour has also published its Employment Services Bill 2010 to provide a legal status for Employment Services after the transfer of the Skills Development functions to the Department of Higher Education and Training.
The Employment Services Bill defines the role and core functions of public employment services as providing:
- Decent work schemes to promote youth employment
- Promotion of employment of people with disabilities
- Employment promotion schemes to respond to economic recession, company closures and pending retrenchments or lay-offs
- Regulation of employment of foreign workers
- Provision is made for the registration and licensing of Private Employment Agencies for placement and their regulation by the department
For more information regarding how the proposed new policies may affect your hiring process, please get in touch.
