Ivan Israelstam, chief executive officer of Labour Law Management Consulting, which is based in Robindale, explains how the upcoming changes to labour law will negatively affect business.
The Labour Relations Act, Basic Conditions of Employment Act and Employment Equity Act will be amended, and the Employment Services Act will be completely new.
The most important impending legal changes include:
A restriction on the use of labour brokers for more than three months unless the broker’s employee is standing in for an absent employee of the client. This does not apply to employees earning above the earnings threshold.
The conversion of a temporary employee to permanent after three months, unless the employer can prove that the job that the employee is doing is itself genuinely permanent. This does not apply to employees earning above the earnings threshold.
A ban on the dismissal of employees who refuse to change their terms and conditions of employment.
The extension of the definition of unfair discrimination to include all arbitrary grounds.
This will mean that employees will more easily claim permanent employment and receive higher wages and better benefits.
In the very short term this will make employees feel more secure.
However, when the extra costs to employers of these new laws hit home, and when the greatly reduced business flexibility starts to bite, many more employers will have to cut back on staff to survive, which will affect employee job security and the ability of unemployed people to find work.
The Labour Minister [Nelisiwe Oliphant] will now have the power to:
Decree minimum wages and minimum wage increases in all industries.
Ban piecework, home work and contract work.
Job applicants, who are unsuccessful due to managers favouring people close to them, will now be able to lodge labour law disputes.
Details: Labour Law Management Consulting 011 888 7944; ivan@labourlawadvice.co.za
