Legal contracts for jobs: A desperate solution?

It would be easy to dismiss the concept of a job seekers exemption certificate (JSEC) – first put forward by the Free Market Foundation in 2003 – as little more than a tactic by capitalists to gouge more out of the workers.

Yet, when one reads Vivienne Vermaak’s contribution on the JSEC today, you can almost hear the anguish and desperation in her tone – emotions which every unemployed person feels.

JSEC a legal contract drawn up by a lawyer, which basically surrenders all the rights which an employee is entitled to under current legislation… in return for a job.

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The recruit promises to work for a lower salary and forego any labour laws which might be in their favour and won’t turn to the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration in the event of workplace disputes.

Vermaak argues, persuasively, that our current labour legislation – including minimum wage laws – is keeping desperate people from being able to put bread on their tables.

While we do worry that the JSEC could open up the way for more cynical exploitation by employers, surely it is the democratic right of an individual to decide what they are prepared to put up with to earn some money?