Solidarity raises concern over Labour Law amendment
Trade union Solidarity has warned of the unintended consequences of the Labour Relations Amendment Act (LRAA), No 6 of 2014, which was promulgated on January 1.
The new legislation, tabled in an effort to protect temporary workers, could lead to fewer people finding work and the contracts of temporary employees not being renewed after three months, Solidarity deputy general secretary Johan Kruger said on Friday.
The LRAA required employers to limit the use of temporary contracts and to ensure temporary workers were employed for no longer than three months.
Companies that employed temporary workers for more than three months were required to provide them with the same benefits as those available to permanent employees.
Kruger said government’s ambitions of “forcing” employers to employ temporary workers permanently would discourage employers to employ temporary workers.
“Companies will increasingly subcontract services or scale down certain activities rather than employ temporary workers,” he noted.
However, in a previous brief, law firm Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr director and national head of the employment practice Aadil Patel said employees would “enjoy far greater protection” than what was currently available to them, with concomitant limitations placed on employers to use such employment structures.
The new law meant that employers had to justify fixing the duration of an employment contract, and would result in the employees becoming permanent employees or being deemed to be employees of the labour broker, or the temporary employment service, used by the company.
The legislation that was meant to protect workers was limited “in some respects”, Patel commented, pointing out that it only applied to those earning below a statutory income threshold and, in the case of fixed-term employees, some smaller and start-up employers may be exempted.
Article Enquiry
Email Article
Save Article
Feedback
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here
Research Reports
Projects
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
At Airshrink - CiP, we surpass customer expectations with innovative MV and LV cable accessories, including heat shrink joints, terminations,...
VISIT SHOWROOM
As one of South Africa's leading manufacturers, Bell Equipment distributes and exports its wide range of heavy equipment globally to mining,...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
