Tag: labour laws

In March 2022, the Department of Communications, through ICASA, began auctioning off available spectrum to bidders, largely telecoms corporations. This auction netted more than R14 billion for the national fiscus and will hasten the roll-out of critical digital connectivity across the country while creating numerous job opportunities, particularly within the media and film industry.

Statistics South Africa has announced that South Africa’s unemployment rate rose to a record high 35.3% in the last quarter of year 2021. This was an increase of 0.4 percentage points from the previous quarterly unemployment rate. The expanded definition of unemployment rate is at 46.2%.

The pandemic has highlighted the importance of employee relations in the workplace, and it is more critical than ever to maintain clear communication between management and workers. A breakdown in employee relations can be detrimental to the organisation and business productivity.

The Employment Services Amendment Bill (ESAB) and the National Labour Migration Policy (NLMP), which are open for commentary, will have a material impact on workforce strategies and design. The reason for this lies in the fact that the Minister of Labour will be empowered to set quotas for representation of foreign nationals after having taken scarce and critical skills into account and based on the SA national labour market goals which include employment creation and skills development.

Lockdown rendered many things impossible, among them the ability for unions to 'show up' for their members in what has traditionally been the status quo for negotiation in South Africa: the organised strike. In many countries across the globe and particularly in South Africa, the ability to organise a strike is where a union best demonstrates its strength.

We have been consistent in saying that labour laws and the National Minimum Wage (NMW) are not benefitting the unemployed. In fact, they do the exact opposite. Parliament, as the institution that makes the laws, is failing the unemployed as it is the responsible body that brings out laws and regulations that cause an increase in unemployment.

Organisations started outsourcing specific business activities in the 1990s mainly as a cost-saving measure. Functions not related to the core business, such as accounting, human resources, data processing, security and maintenance were contracted out to specialised service providers rather than handled by internal staff and resources.