15 September, 2010
Draft legislation in South Africa on whether to ban labour brokers or to increase regulation on enterprises that supply workers to businesses is stalled in the government, with the likelihood that revisions to the Labour Relations Act (LRA) on this key national issue will not be heard in Parliament by year end.
Four draft bills were submitted to the Cabinet in May, but have been returned to the Labour Ministry for language revisions. Even after the Cabinet accepts the draft amendments to the LRA, including revising Section 198 (temporary employment services), they must still go the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC) for review, and then to public comment before the full Parliament takes up South African labour law revisions.
Besides whether or not to ban labour brokers, the proposed legislation is expected to prohibit discrepancy in wages and working conditions between temporary and permanent workers, provide protection against unfair dismissals during probation periods for workers, provide more government labour inspectors to investigate abuses, harsher fines on abusive companies that are linked to their annual turnovers, and impose extended liability on primary employers when abuses occur.
The major employer federations that cover staffing companies in South Africa, namely the Association of Personnel Service Organisations (APSO) and the Confederation of Associations in the Private Employment Sector (CAPES), are taking a pro-action position that some type of legislation must pass.
But these groups are lobbying for tighter regulation of the more nefarious side of the industry, believing that there is abusive practices by unscrupulous labour brokers that must be stopped.
Labour unions in South Africa, however, led by the Congress of South African Unions (COSATU), are holding firm that a complete ban is necessary. The unions have made it a rule to inject the ban language on labour brokers in their collective agreements, and several employers have agreed to the ban.
In the ten-day strike in August between the National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa (NUMSA) and the Automobile Manufacturers Employers Association (AMEA), representing BMW, Ford, General Motors, Nissan, Toyota, and Volkswagen, the two sides agreed to the ban. It takes effect on 1 January 2011, with the exception of pre-existing labour broker contracts, which will be permitted to run their term.
Regarding the legislation, Minister of Labour Membathisi Mdladlana made it clear while speaking at a labour law conference in mid-August that labour brokering in the country will definitely get a revamp with the objective of creating decent jobs.
He told labour lawyers present that the notion of treating labour as a commodity must halt. “We must stop this thing of selling labour,” Mdladlana stated.