Ann Crotty
Even if organised business undertook to employ every available worker it would not be possible to guarantee businesses total flexibility in employment conditions, Phambinkosi Mkalipi, the deputy director-general of the Department of Labour, told Business Report yesterday.
Mkalipi said that total flexibility was likely to create a situation that would contravene the constitutional rights of many employees.
Mkalipi was speaking after a briefing to the portfolio committee on labour on the proposed amendments to the Labour Relations Act, the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, the Employment Equity Act and the Employment Services Act.
A key objective of the amendments is the attempt to address the increased informalisation of the labour market, which is essentially a bid to deal with the proliferation of labour brokers in a way that is acceptable to both Cosatu and business.
“What we’re doing with regard to informalisation is nothing new,” Mkalipi said.
“Most countries have introduced legislation to protect vulnerable workers… we must maintain a balance between protection (for workers) and flexibility (for employers), there’s no way we can let things go to the dogs.”
Sej Motau, a DA member of the committee, asked Mkalipi what research the department had undertaken ahead of the drafting of the labour law amendments.
When told that a regulatory impact assessment undertaken in 2010 had provided input, Motau said he would “feel better” if the department updated that research to take into consideration changes in the labour market environment.
Motau also said that it was critical that Nedlac, the negotiating chamber for the government, business and labour, reached a consensus on the proposals before they were presented in draft form.
To date business and labour representatives have agreed to disagree on key aspects of the amendments.
“This (high unemployment) is one of the greatest challenges facing South Africa. If business, labour and government are not singing from the same hymn sheet it will be very difficult to address the situation,” Motau told the committee.
The committee was told that “technical changes” were being made to the draft legislation and that the final bill would be with the committee within a few weeks.
The proposed amendments dealing with employees of “temporary employment services”, or labour brokers, limits temporary work to six months and requires that all employees who perform the same or similar work are treated equally.
Seasonal workers and fixed-term contractors are exempt from the six-month limit.
There is also relief for employers employing fewer than 10 employees and employers with fewer than 50 employees that have been in operation for less than two years.