New labour laws - Department of Labour · have a reformed labour relations dispensation with new...
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The four piece of bills that have been reviewed are the LRA, the BCEA, the Employment Equity Amendment Bill and the newly- introduced Employment Services Bill. It should be noted that, while there was substantial agreement on many of the amendments, there remained key areas of disagreement. As a custodian of labour laws in the Republic of South Africa the Department of Labour has a responsibility to ensure that our labour laws comply with fundamental rights, and ensure that the labour market is peaceful and conducive to conduct business. In the same vein the laws ought to ensure that labour dispute resolutions institutions such as the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) settle disputes speedily, while the department beefs up and empower inspector work. Another consideration in these amendments has been the protection of the vulnerable workers such as the Domestic workers and Farm workers who comprise a significant part of the global workforce in informal employment and are among the most vulnerable groups of workers. The vulnerable are often employed without clear terms of employment, subjected to deplorable working conditions, unregistered, and excluded from the scope of labour legislation. Indeed, an estimated 50% of CCMA statistics showed that workers were not represented by trade unions, don’t have money to enforce their awards. The key areas of amendments to the LRA and the BCEA was focused on addressing what is now commonly referred to as the phenomenon of labour broking. Other areas of focus include: • Regulating contract work • The exclusion of high-income earners from bringing unfair dismissal claims to the CCMA • Strikes and lock-outs • Essential Services • Organisational rights and collective bargaining • Changes to the power of the Minister • Sectoral determinations • Child labour • Strengthening the power of the inspectorate • Penalties. When all is said and done the new labour regime seeks to strike a balance to the satisfaction of all stakeholders in the labour market. New labour laws to herald a new era in the labour market By the end of the current financial year next March, South Africa would have a reformed labour relations dispensation with new labour laws in place. The changes to current labour laws have their genesis in 1999. As is the norm with every nation when laws become irrelevant and not respond to the environment these are subjected to review and South Africa has done just that. The latest renaissance in labour legislation currently underway is ground breaking. The last time South Africa experienced such a historic shake-up in labour dispensation was during the Wiehahn Commission era in the 1970’s. The Wiehahn Commission was set up following the 1973 Durban strikes and the Soweto uprisings of 1976 to look at the industrial relations system in South Africa. Two years later the commission made recommendations that the Labour Relations Act be amended to grant Black trade unions legal recognition and encourage them to register. The Wiehahn Commission believed that these reforms were necessary to control the proliferation of Black trade unions in the 1970s. As part of this sequence of change, therefore, when the new bills were drafted to review the current labour legislation, these were responding to: labour broking and increased informalisation of labour in the market; adjust laws to ensure compliance with SA’s obligation in terms of international labour standards. The latest labour legislation was reviewed to also help enhance the effectiveness of the labour market institutions such as the Labour Court, the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), provide clarity on the role of the Essential Services, the strengthening of labour inspectorate and bargaining and statutory councils; ensure that labour legislation gives effect to fundamental Constitutional rights including the right to fair labour practices; and clarify uncertainties that have arisen from the interpretation and application of the Labour Relations Act (LRA) and the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) in the past decade. Labour Minister initiated the process within the ambit of the law and the process had to be done via the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac), a forum of government, business, social and labour partners. Subsequently, there were public hearings and later the bills were interrogated via the Parliamentary process and were also subjected to a legal probity. It is history that the bills were also subjected to a regulatory impact study in terms of governance and legal tests to gauge their effects on regulation to business, labour and citizens of the country. Department of Labour working for you
Transcript of New labour laws - Department of Labour · have a reformed labour relations dispensation with new...
The four piece of bills that have been reviewed are the LRA, the BCEA, the Employment Equity Amendment Bill and the newly-introduced Employment Services Bill.
It should be noted that, while there was substantial agreement on many of the amendments, there remained key areas of disagreement.
As a custodian of labour laws in the Republic of South Africa the Department of Labour has a responsibility to ensure that our labour laws comply with fundamental rights, and ensure that the labour market is peaceful and conducive to conduct business.
In the same vein the laws ought to ensure that labour dispute resolutions institutions such as the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) settle disputes speedily, while the department beefs up and empower inspector work.
Another consideration in these amendments has been the protection of the vulnerable workers such as the Domestic workers and Farm workers who comprise a significant part of the global workforce in informal employment and are among the most vulnerable groups of workers. The vulnerable are often employed without clear terms of employment, subjected to deplorable working conditions, unregistered, and excluded from the scope of labour legislation.
Indeed, an estimated 50% of CCMA statistics showed that workers were not represented by trade unions, don’t have money to enforce their awards.
The key areas of amendments to the LRA and the BCEA was focused on addressing what is now commonly referred to as the phenomenon of labour broking.
Other areas of focus include:
• Regulating contract work
• The exclusion of high-income earners from bringing unfair dismissal claims to the CCMA
• Strikes and lock-outs
• Essential Services
• Organisational rights and collective bargaining
• Changes to the power of the Minister
• Sectoral determinations
• Child labour
• Strengthening the power of the inspectorate
• Penalties.
When all is said and done the new labour regime seeks to strike a balance to the satisfaction of all stakeholders in the labour market.
New labour lawsto herald a new era in thelabour marketBy the end of the current financial year next March, South Africa would have a reformed labour relations dispensation with new labour laws in place.
The changes to current labour laws have their genesis in 1999. As is the norm with every nation when laws become irrelevant and not respond to the environment these are subjected to review and South Africa has done just that.
The latest renaissance in labour legislation currently underway is ground breaking. The last time South Africa experienced such a historic shake-up in labour dispensation was during the Wiehahn Commission era in the 1970’s. The Wiehahn Commission was set up following the 1973 Durban strikes and the Soweto uprisings of 1976 to look at the industrial relations system in South Africa.
Two years later the commission made recommendations that the Labour Relations Act be amended to grant Black trade unions legal recognition and encourage them to register. The Wiehahn Commission believed that these reforms were necessary to control the proliferation of Black trade unions in the 1970s.
As part of this sequence of change, therefore, when the new bills were drafted to review the current labour legislation, these were responding to: labour broking and increased informalisation of labour in the market; adjust laws to ensure compliance with SA’s obligation in terms of international labour standards.
The latest labour legislation was reviewed to also help enhance the effectiveness of the labour market institutions such as the Labour Court, the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), provide clarity on the role of the Essential Services, the strengthening of labour inspectorate and bargaining and statutory councils; ensure that labour legislation gives effect to fundamental Constitutional rights including the right to fair labour practices; and clarify uncertainties that have arisen from the interpretation and application of the Labour Relations Act (LRA) and the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) in the past decade.
Labour Minister initiated the process within the ambit of the law and the process had to be done via the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac), a forum of government, business, social and labour partners. Subsequently, there were public hearings and later the bills were interrogated via the Parliamentary process and were also subjected to a legal probity.
It is history that the bills were also subjected to a regulatory impact study in terms of governance
and legal tests to gauge their effects on regulation to business, labour and citizens
of the country.
Department of Labour working for you
