Government unveils new wage regulation bills

Draft legislation released for public comment would give the minister of labour the power to determine annual increases for farm and domestic workers who are paid more than the minimum wage, a senior official said.

Thembinkosi Mkalipi, a chief director in the Department of Labour, said in Cape Town that it was not fair that vulnerable employees, such as domestic workers, who earn more than the prescribed minimum wage, should be prejudiced in the awarding of increases.

Briefing business, labour and civil society delegates to the first of nine provincial consultations on the draft labour bills, released in December, Mkalipi said the department's proposal would give the government the power to oblige employers to award increases at least equal to inflation.

"Those employers who increase wages irrespective have got nothing to fear, but we believe it is unfair to say to, especially vulnerable workers - domestic and farm workers - that, because you are earning above the minimum, you are not entitled to any increase," he said.

The government sets the minimum wage for domestic workers every year and increases it roughly in line with inflation.

Mkalipi outlined the consequences of four bills that, if enacted, would dramatically alter the employment landscape.

He said an important provision - so far overlooked by most commentators - would make it illegal to strike over a dispute, including allegedly unfair dismissal, that could be resolved by the Labour Court or the CCMA.

Other provisions in the bills are:

• All employment agencies will have to be registered and will not be allowed to charge for finding a job. Labour brokers will be regulated, constrained and phased out;

• All employment will be assumed to be permanent unless employers can make a convincing case for short-term employment, such as for seasonal harvesting or retailing peaks;

• Temporary staff will be entitled to the same or equivalent benefits as permanent staff, including the cash value of pension and medical contributions;

• It will be compulsory to give equal pay for the same work, or work of the same value, and employers will have to justify why they pay different rates to staff who claim to do the same work;

• The statutory CCMA will be available only to low-paid and vulnerable workers.

• The government will set up state employment agencies to which all vacancies and hirings will have to be reported; and

• The workforce of any company employing more than 50 people will have to reflect the national racial mix and not just regional demographic profiles.