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Employment Bill has business lobby in a froth
It seems no one is entirely happy with the proposed legislation,
writes CIARAN RYAN
At issue, according to business lobbyists, is the entire future of job creation and national economic growth. They point to the fact that virtually no new manufacturing jobs have been created over the past 20 years as business migrates towards more capital-intensive production. Labour wants six months maternity leave, at least four of them paid, the phasing in of a 40-hour week, double pay for Sunday work and, one of the more contentious demands, no downward variation in conditions. This means that standards should only be improved on, not diminished. Cosatu has rejected averaging provisions which would allow for greater flexibility in employment and argues that a regular 40-hour week will encourage job creation. The Confederation of Employers of SA (Cofesa) says it has helped reclassify more than 150 000 workers at 3 000 companies as independent contractors rather than paid employees. Not only does this circumvent many of the provisions of the Labour Relations Act, it has produced some startling increases in productivity. Hein van der Walt, director of Cofesa, says independent contractors also fall outside the ambit of the Basic Conditions of Employment Bill. Van der Walt says productivity improvements of 60% have been recorded after switching from employed to contracted labour. He says SA is up against rampant Asian economies, where 60-hour working weeks are not uncommon and labour rates are substantially lower and productivity rates markedly higher than in SA.
SMME Alert, a newsletter produced by the Small Business Project, says in terms of the Bill non-standard employees who work more than four hours a week at a company will qualify for the same basket of rights as permanent employees. "The cost to employers of providing this level of minimum benefits to non-standard employees could very easily exceed the contribution they make to revenue, productivity and profitability." Lenco chairman Doug de Jager, writing in the 1997 annual report, says those who argue that crime is the greatest threat to the country's future prosperity are missing the point. It's time, he says, to realise that the real problem is an abundance of factors working against employment creation and that high unemployment, coupled with the absence of a social security system, is a perfect recipe for crime. "When every major employer group should be applying its mind to creating jobs, most are strategising on how to reduce their exposure to labour. Huge capital is expended to achieve a greater degree of automation," says De Jager. Monde Tabata, chief executive of the National Small Business Council, says the Basic Conditions of Employment Bill reflects the interests of big business and labour, but pays scant attention to the needs of small business. "The Basic Conditions of Employment Bill goes a long way towards prescribing what needs to be done in terms of employment conditions, but what we need is more flexibility," says Tabata. "We have not heard the last word on this. There is a pressing need to get the process of job creation going and we want to start a process looking at the specific interests of small business."
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