The Department of Labour has now uploaded the LRA and BCEA amendment bills together with the Memorandum of Objects. Click the links below to get yourself a copy
Memorandum of Objects: Labour Relations Act Amendment Bill, 2012
Labour Relations Act Amendment Bill, 2012
Basic Conditions of Employment Act Amendment Bill, 2012
Memorandum of Objects: Basic Conditions of Employment Amendment Bill, 2012
Credit to Jeroen van Oostrom, the digital artist who created this image.
As South Africa is pushing the Labour Bills into Parliament, in UK’s new Agency Worker Regulations, one of the hot issues “same pay and benefits as permanent workers” is resulting in an opposite effect.
Under the changes, which stem from European law, temps are entitled to the same pay and benefits as permanent workers after just 12 weeks in a job. Previously, they had to wait one year to clock up employment rights. ( SA has proposed 6months. We should be doing one year)
A Government analysis said the new rules would cost firms £1.8bn (over R10bn!) a year to implement, raising fears that cash-strapped businesses would stop hiring temps as it no longer made commercial sense. A typical small business would have to pay an extra £2,493 a year, increasing to £73,188 for larger companies. (Experts in SA have always been saying more people, if not more households will suffer as a result)
The new 12-week rule also damages temps’ flexibility to cover peaks and troughs in demand, experts said.
Scores of employers have revisited how they will use temps following the new rules, and are either recruiting fewer agency staff or urging them to waive their rights under a legal loophole. (This is one of my fears for the SA market)
Tom Hadley, policy director at the REC, said the decline in temp hiring “may in part be linked to employer uncertainty over the agency worker regulations”. (Unfortunately this has already commenced in SA without even the bills finalised)
The number of people placed in short-term jobs fell in March at the fastest rate for two-and-a-half years, research from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG revealed. (The Namibia case comes to mind. SA should bear this in mind)
SOURCE: THE TELEGRAPH
Credit to worradmu for the image
This has been a huge argument among labour experts some saying all temps become permanent after six months. Well today (4 April 2012) the Department of Labour held their first public briefing in Johannesburg and here is what the Labour Chief Director Thembinkosi Mkalipi had to say….
Temporary work would be defined as that lasting no more than six months, said chief director of collective bargaining Thembinkosi Mkalipi. “After six months, I cannot be treated differently from other employees, no matter if I am employed by the broker or the client,” he said. “Let’s give workers what is due to them.” This could be summarised as “same treatment and same pay for the same work”. Exceptions included workers who earned more than R172,000 per year, certain types of seasonal work and contracts to replace staff on sick leave.
SOURCE: iafrica
So there we have it! and I qoute “…no matter if I am employed by the broker or the client”
Amendment of section 198 of Act 66 of 1995 – general provisions regulating temporary employment services
Section 198 continues to apply to all employees. It retains the general provisions that a TES is the employer of persons whom it employs and pays to work for a client, and that a TES and its client are jointly and severally liable for specified contraventions of employment laws.
A number of further general protections are introduced:
As we all know the amendment bills for the Labour Relations Act (LRA) and the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) have been submitted to the Cabinet Committee by The Minister of Labour. Next Up is the Public hearings and it is of interest to note that the public briefings planned by Department of Labour are intended to strictly inform and are not an input gathering session. One way traffic it seems.
“We are going to have briefings in all the provinces. In 2010 after publishing the new bills for amendment, we went on a national public hearings campaign, where we solicited comments from the public and various organisations. So, we feel it is also important, that we should go back and report to public what we propose. We want to educate interested stakeholders what these changes mean. Our duty now is to provide clarification,” DoL Chief Director: Collective Bargaining Thembinkosi Mkalipi (27 March 2012)
The schedule for the public briefings is as follows:
Johannesburg, Orion Devonshire Hotel on 04/04/2012;
Cape Town, Fountains Hotel 05/04/2012;
Polokwane, Meropa Casino 09/04/2012. (Thats Easter Monday! Someone tell the Minister)
(Polokwane changed to 02/05/2012 CHANGES HERE)
Durban, Tropicana Hotel 12/04/2012; (Durban changed to 18/04/2012) (CHANGES HERE)
Port Elizabeth; Eastern Cape Training Centre 17/04/2012;
Bloemfontein, President Hotel 23/04/2012;
Kimberley, ICC Kimberley 24/04/2012;
Rustenburg, Hunters Rest 25/04/2012; (Rustenburg changed to 20 April 2012) (CHANGES HERE)
Witbank Protea Hotel 26/04/2012;
NB All public briefings will be held from 10:00 to 13:00
