Innovation can save temp workers, labour brokers

While last week’s Constitutional Court ruling on the hiring of temporary employees has brought uncertainty to millions of workers, all is not lost: the answer lies in innovation.

Innovative Staffing Solutions managing director Armoux Mare says the judgment, which required workers provided by labour brokers to companies to become permanent employees of the companies after three months, with job security, has put a spanner in the works.

The ruling is known as the “Numsa Clause” – named after the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, which challenged the dual interpretation of the amendment to Section 198 A (3)(b) of the Labour Relations Act (LRA) by labour brokers who were intent on controlling casual workers.

Mare welcomed the Concourt ruling for having effectively changed the lives of thousands of workers for the better.

“The groundbreaking judgment essentially freed low-paid workers, often exploited by labour brokers, giving them much-needed security. In the past, the majority could not apply for a loan or a house bond due to their temporary employment status. The status quo has therefore changed in their favour,” Mare said.

Due to the LRA amendment there was uncertainty as to whether there should be a sole or dual employment relationship between the labour broker, its client and the placed worker.

Drawn-out court battles ensued as a result of the different interpretation of the LRA amendment between trade unions and labour brokers.

An earlier Labour Court ruling was set aside with a new ruling stating a placed worker must become a sole employee of the client company, instead of the broker.

According to Mare, while the ruling brought about much-needed stability for some, it spelt doom for labour brokers.

He appealed to companies that used the services of brokers not to dismiss short-term workers as a means to avoid permanently employing them but to find a way forward through labour experts.

– ericn@citizen.co.za

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