Effects of labour legislative changes regarding temporary employment services in KwaZulu-Natal mining and construction coastal sectors.

Abstract

This study has been conducted to shed light on the effects of labour legislative changes regarding temporary employment services in KwaZulu-Natal mining and construction coastal sectors. This study employed an exploratory research design. Since this study is exploratory in nature, both purposive sampling and stratified sampling was used. The participants were chosen from the temporary employment services (TES) in Durban and Richardsbay. A qualitative approach was employed to collect data. Thirteen structured interviews (13) were conducted out of the maximum of twenty (20) interviews that are required for a qualitative study to understand the perceptions of management of TES’s, client companies as well as trade unions. Eight five percent (85%) of the participants agreed that TES’s contribute positively towards the labour market as well as our economy and concluded that it is fair for the government to impose legislation to regulate this industry rather than an outright ban of the industry as this would have adverse effects on the economy and the already low employment growth rate in South Africa. Fifteen percent (15%) of the participants argued that TES’s should be banned completely as they are exploitative in nature and do not create employment but merely act as intermediaries. Findings also revealed that most TES’s state that the common notion that companies approach them as they provide cheap labour is false as companies only approach them to ease the administration burden of recruitment and hiring. This study found that due to the nature of the mining and construction industry, this sector is unable to carry all of its employees on a full time basis hence the need for the existence of TES’s. The non-registered TES’s will now be totally eliminated and the abuse of employees by non-compliant TES’s will be minimised. Most TES’s have responded positively towards the changes as they suggest that it is better that to be banned, however they raise that the word “deemed” in the provisions is still being defended in court as there are several applications submitted contesting it as it causes confusion on who the real employer is between the TES and the client company.