On the 17 of December 2010, the Minister of Labour published four Bills in the Government Gazette. The Bills propose to amend certain provisions of the Labour Relations Act (“the LRA”), the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (“ the BCEA”) and the Employment Equity Act (“the EEA”). Some of the significant proposals that are set out in the Bills include the criminalisation of certain provisions in the LRA and in the BCEA and the introduction in the EEA of penalties that are linked to the annual turnover of a business.

A fourth Bill is a newly conceived piece of legislation which would, if enacted, be known as the Employment Services Act. The purpose of the Employment Services Bill appears to be to regulate labour broking, the recruitment of foreign workers and regulating the reporting of vacancies to the Department of Labour. This Bill is highly controversial. Businesses argue that the Employment Services Bill would have severe adverse consequences for the South African labour market if it were allowed to pass in its current form, particularly if it is indeed intended to ban labour broking. The Department of Labour, on the other hand, does not believe that the Bill goes far enough and they argue in favour of labour broking being entirely outlawed.

Although changes to the proposed amendments to the labour laws may still be made, there are some important aspects of legislative thinking in the proposed Bills. It remains important to take due cognisance of the proposed Bills, particularly because they have already been the subject of much speculation and were at times misleading when reported in the public media.

The Bowman Gilfillan employment law team will be conducting seminars, writing articles and sending regular updates in the form of newsletters to ensure that our clients are fully informed around the implementation of these Bills. Should you have any queries in relation to the proposed amendments, please do not hesitate to contact our team.