|
|
|
|
|
|
| ||||
|
|
 The Labour Consultancy.
THIS week, Labour Guides' Rael Solomon speaks to a Bargaining Council inspector about the importance of educating executives of small to medium-sized businesses on the philosophy of the current labour legislation.
Every employer in South Africa today has to accept the fact that the laws that have governed these industrial relationships have now changed irrevocably and each employer should be educated to deal with this new process adequately. The present structures relating to all the negotiating forums have not taken into account the needs of an average small business or a private employer in the domestic and agricultural sector and as a result, nearly 65% of all employers in South Africa have been excluded from any of the decision making process. Both the average big business and the average employee have access to education and training regarding the new laws. Big business does this through the establishment of administrative departments with appointed human resources management and on the employee side, there are reasonably adequate trade union structures in place to assist them. The average small business, on the other hand, makes up a large proportion of the employment sector and yet there is no viable or cost effective structure in place to accommodate their needs. They are therefore forced to either go it alone or they have to rely on the costly and the sometimes ill equipped methods of labour practitioners. When these small businesses are confronted by the LRA or by a Bargaining Council problems, they have no real means by which to defend themselves and are thus easy prey to the system. Instead of settling a difference of opinion in the manner in which is prescribed in the LRA, the small businessman usually has to resort to settling the problem with a cash payment at conciliation level. This is gradually undermining the principals of problem solving and is starting to give the impression that functions such as the CCMA and the Bargaining Councils are only there to ensure that the employees have a forum whereby they can legally extort money from their employer for the slightest transgression. The provision of an effective training program will start to equip both a small employer as well as the employees with the necessary tools to effectively deal with their daily problems. This will lead to a better understanding of how the problems arise and how to avoid them. The accessibility and requirement for the conciliation and arbitration procedures will then become more filtered and defined to undertake the tasks for which they were effectively designed, instead of being clogged up with the hundreds of unnecessary cases that are presently being brought before them. Bargaining Councils will also be allowed to become more effective in the problem solving arena by being able to concentrate on their official tasks, instead of running around trying to punish transgressors who have failed to fall into line with the requirements of their various industries. The majority of transgressors are small businessmen who have either no knowledge of the requirements or are trying to hide from their responsibilities because of their real fear of the systems. The newspapers in South Africa have gone some distance to assist people with this education but unfortunately this is not enough, and the more sensational cases reported in the news have only served to further inflame the small employers fear of the new system. If South Africa is to grow and develop into a competitive producer in the new millennium, then the education of the entire work force will have to be tackled soon, so as to prevent a collapse of the LRA, which could become a viable regulatory function. The responsibility for educating both the work force and the employers rests solely with the Department of Labour. The grandiose plans that are being discussed regarding the proposed compulsory training levies, for the so called training of the labour force, should also be extensively used to educate the average small employer and this will reduce the ongoing friction between the worker and the employer. After all, it will no doubt be the employer that will have to foot the bill for this training scheme, and everyone who has to pay for something only wants some kind of return for their money. If the government chooses to ignore the needs of the average employer sector, and implements this training tax solely for the benefit of pacifying the trade union movements, then it will surely not be long before the entire system collapses and a major proportion of South Africa's employers will be lost. The overall effect of this loss could have serious implications for the South African economy as a whole. The Department of Labour should also consider using this training levy to cross subsidise the various Bargaining Councils with a view to the development of an education program that is specifically designed to suit the needs of the individual industries in which they serve. This will go a long way to encouraging the small businessman to be honest and not afraid to approach their Bargaining Councils for advice, instead of being intimidated by them, which in the long term will prevent unnecessary unrest within that particular industry. Education as a whole in industry can only benefit the economy by making employers, both big and small, more competitive whilst at the same time giving the average worker a better understanding of how systems actually work. This will invariably help to increase productivity in the South African workplace.
Case study: The question of sub-contractors rears its head A hearing determined that the employer was required to pay R6 000,00 in unfair dismissal compensation to the sub-contractor. The council also found that the business was not registered for that industry and the company was required to pay R10 000,00 in back monies owed to the council.
|
