Department of Labour cautions offenders against budgeting for fines to comply with labour laws - The successful implementation of the newly envisaged Employment Services (ES) Bill will hinge on the extent to which it deals with offenders who do not comply with legislation. Department of Labour’s (DoL) Deputy Director-General of Public Employment Services (PES), Sam Morotoba said a worrying feature of the proposed Bill was that it proposes the imposition of “too low” a fine to regulate private employment agencies that may flout the labour laws. “We are worried that this will create a problem when we enforce legislation, as some offenders will budget for fines. The level at which we impose fines will be a big test. Although, through the bill we will not solve or eradicate problems, once it comes into force we will be able to deal with many violations,” Morotoba said. He was giving feedback on behalf of the Department of Labour before the Portfolio Committee on Labour in Parliament today (October 23) on the soon-to-be implemented Employment Services Bill. The Employment Services Bill is one of a raft of labour legislation before Parliament for consideration. It was introduced in 1999 when South Africa’s labour laws came for a review. The others include the Labour Relations Act, the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, and the Employment Equity Act. The Employment Services Bill and the three others are in Parliament for a review in response to a rise in informalisation of the labour market. The bills also seek to ensure compliance with SA’s obligation in terms of international labour standards; enhance the effectiveness of the labour market institutions such as the Labour Court, the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration, and strengthen the labour inspectorate among others. One of the key objectives of the introduction of the Employment Services Bill was to help the government on the crucial objective of job creation, to provide free public employment services, the registration of job opportunities, provide for co-operation between private and public sector, protect vulnerable workers and how to deal with the employment of foreign nationals among others. Morotoba told the Portfolio Committee on Labour that the State has a duty to intervene in the provision of employment to vulnerable. He said: “capacity is something that we will need to develop over time to deal with problems of public employment services.” Morotoba cautioned that it was never the intention of the bill to manage migration of labour in isolation of the regulations, “non-regulation is fuelling xenophobia”. The Portfolio Committee on Labour has committed itself to speed up the conclusion of the Employment Services Bill over the next few weeks. Media Release: Department of Labour 23 October 2013
Posted on: Thu, 24 Oct 2013 05:39:40 +0000
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