The regulation of sick and incapacity leave in the public sector
- Authors: Gunguta, Thembeka Maureen
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Sick leave -- Law and legislation -- South Africa Labor laws and legislation -- South Africa , Labor policy -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , LLM
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/16087 , vital:28319
- Description: The Public Service is service delivery driven, and is dependent on the quality, skill and performance of the employees to carry through its business. It is therefore imperative that the policies and systems pertaining to human capital are effectively and efficiently managed. The Basic Conditions of Employment Act regulates the basic conditions of employment and states that employees’ may be absent from duty due to illness. The public sector uses the Determination on the Leave of Absence in the Public Service as a tool to regulate leave in the public sector. The Determination provides employees with 36 paid sick days to be utilised by an employee within a three-year cycle. In cases where an employee has exhausted the sick leave, the employer may grant Temporary Incapacity Leave, which is discretional. The Public Service Commission has a constitutional obligation to monitor the performance of the public sector and produce reports covering the human resources management practices. With regards to the management of leave in the public sector, the reports reveal the abuse of sick leave by employees, non-compliance and the in-effective management. The Department of Public Service and Administration then developed the PILIR as a guide to manage and administer sick and incapacity leave in the public sector. This treatise therefore, discusses the regulation of sick and incapacity leave in the public sector and investigates the extent to which the applicable legislative framework is effective. The discussion uses the Labour Court judgment in the matter between The Public Service Association & Others versus the PSCBC & Others as reference, and further evaluates the judicial jurisprudence to demonstrate the extent of contentions of the private sector employers by the employees. Furthermore, this treatise seeks to evaluate the extent of similarities or differences of the practices both the private sector and the municipalities. In conclusion, the treatise makes recommendations on the best practices that can be adopted by the public sector to turn the situation around.
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- Date Issued: 2017
The impact of the concept of decent work on the job security and the provisioning of educators
- Authors: Pretorius, William Richard
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Labor laws and legislation -- South Africa , Labor policy -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , LLM
- Identifier: vital:10262 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1021218
- Description: Section 29(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (the Constitution) guarantees the right to a basic education, including a basic adult education and further education. In realising this right, the State is obliged to provide financial and human resources in a manner that will transform society as a whole and deliver a better life for all citizens. The human resources in the main refer to educators. Education is one of key priorities of the present government to the extent that President Zuma has instructed that a presidential commission be established to look into the conditions of service of public servants and in particular that of educators. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has proposed the Decent Work Country Programmes to help countries align their policies with the international goal of the achievement of Decent Work for all. South Africa has done a lot of work in this regard; however the main challenge remains with the implementation and acceptance of such policies by the major stakeholders especially the trade unions. This treatise investigates the impact of the Decent Work Agenda (DWA) on the job security and provisioning of educators in South Africa. It also explores the conditions of service of temporary educators and those educators who are teaching in the rural areas under extremely difficult conditions in comparison with their counterparts in urban areas. This treatise also examines the status of social dialogue in the education sector and the impact of same on collective bargaining. This treatise recommends that the utilisation of the services of temporary educators need to be regulated to address the continuous extension of temporary contracts that is impacting negatively on job security. It also suggests that urgent measures in the form of norms and standards be determined to improve the working conditions of educators who are teaching in rural areas under very difficult circumstances.
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- Date Issued: 2014
Fiscal policy and unemployment in South Africa 1980 to 2010
- Authors: Murwirapachena, Genius
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Fiscal policy -- South Africa , Monetary policy -- South Africa , Labor economics -- South Africa , Unemployment -- South Africa , Labor policy -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , M Com
- Identifier: vital:11458 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/544 , Fiscal policy -- South Africa , Monetary policy -- South Africa , Labor economics -- South Africa , Unemployment -- South Africa , Labor policy -- South Africa
- Description: Unemployment is one of the greatest and most complex challenges facing South Africa. Just like most developing countries, South Africa has been using the fiscal policy framework as a tool to alleviate the high rates of unemployment. This study examined the impact of fiscal policy on unemployment in South Africa. The study used annual time series data for the period 1980 to 2010. A vector error correction model was used to determine the effects of fiscal policy aggregates on unemployment in South Africa. The fiscal policy aggregates considered in this study were government investment expenditure, government consumption expenditure and tax. Results from this study revealed that government consumption expenditure and tax have a positive impact on unemployment while government investment expenditure negatively affects unemployment in South Africa. Policy recommendations were made using these results.
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- Date Issued: 2011
The concept of decent work in a South African context
- Authors: Ndung'u, Agnes
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Labor laws and legislation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Labor supply -- South Africa , Labor policy -- South Africa , Labor laws and legislation, International , Labor economics -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , LLM
- Identifier: vital:10199 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1618 , Labor laws and legislation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Labor supply -- South Africa , Labor policy -- South Africa , Labor laws and legislation, International , Labor economics -- South Africa
- Description: Work is a key component of people's lives and most people aspire to have work that is sufficient to provide a living wage so as to lift them out of poverty and social exclusion and also that is secure enough to guarantee a decent livelihood. The Decent Work Agenda has gained much popularity in recent years and proposes an approach to development that emphasizes fair and sustainable working opportunities that include principles of rights at work, social protection and social dialogue. Various issues have been raised in this study. Firstly, the decent work concept needs to be understood comprehensively as there is misconception about what the concept implies and what it can achieve. Secondly, it is acknowledged that there are huge decent work deficits in South Africa especially in the informal sector which impede on the advancement of people‟s conditions of living, cause people to live lives of poverty as well as deprive people of a life of dignity. This is despite decent work having a solid basis in labour legislation and also South Africa being bound by international law and principles concerning decent work. The study observes that reform in labour legislation is recommended to help overcome the decent work deficits. The ILO has proposed the Decent Work Country Programmes to help countries align their economic development goals with the international goal of the achievement of Decent Work for all. South Africa also has its own solutions such as the New Growth Path as well as other policies. The main issue however is how these policies can be implemented effectively and how decent work can be achieved against a backdrop of the socio – economic challenges that South Africa faces.
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- Date Issued: 2011
An analysis of the policy-making process in the Department of Labour with specific reference to the Employment Equity Act, (Act 55 of 1998)
- Authors: Matshikwe, Lungile Easter
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: Labor policy -- South Africa , South Africa. Employment Equity Act, 1998 , Labor laws and legislation -- South Africa , Policy sciences -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech (Public Management)
- Identifier: vital:10776 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/201 , Labor policy -- South Africa , South Africa. Employment Equity Act, 1998 , Labor laws and legislation -- South Africa , Policy sciences -- South Africa
- Description: The research problem in this study was to analyse how the new constitutional, legal and political arrangements have influenced public policy-making in the department of labour with specific reference to the Employment Equity Act. To achieve this objective a theory for analysing policy–making process was presented. Corporatist theory is based on the following assumptions: Public policy is shaped by interaction between the state and interest groups. The state licences behaviour of interested organizations by attributing public status to them Policy-making is based on interest groups bargaining across a broad range of issues. The groups are functionally interdependent to enhance social stability. The groups use consensus in making decisions. Decision-making is centralised, it is done by leaders. The groups are bureaucratic in organization. The groups must be recorgnised by the state so that they can be allowed representation. The research questions that arise are: (1) Who sets the agenda for policy formulation? (2) How is the policy formulated? (3) how are the decisions taken? (4) How is the policy implemented? (5) How is the policy monitored? The objective of this study analyse how constitutional, legal and political changes have influenced public policy formulation in the Department of Labour with specific reference to the Employment Equity Act. Policy–making processes in the South African arena and factors that led to the promulgation of Employment Equity Act were discussed. This study was a qualitative design. Purposive sampling was used in the selection of five participants who were interviewed. All interviews were transcribed verbatim. Data was analysed as described by Rubin and Rubin (1995:260) The result negated some of the assumptions of corporatist theory and others concurred with the theory. The findings of the study revealed that policy formulation in the Department of Labour is as a result of constitutional, and international conventions obligations. The findings further revealed that policy-information is institutionalised and there are competing interests due to divergent ideological orientations, different social backgrounds; racial differences; different; political beliefs; different class background; different historical backgrounds, and gender differences. (v) The formulation of the act was also characterised by advocacy, adversarism, stereotyping, alliances and consensus. These organisations. were bureaucratic and decisions were centralised. This study recommended a theory and the theory postulates that “public policy is the product of the social, economic, political, cultural, technolergical, and natural conditions of a given society in a particular epoch or period in the historical development of the particular nation or society and is influenced by dominant national and international forces and these influences may be cultural, economically, social, politically, technological, and type and system of government.
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- Date Issued: 2004
The role of the trade union in post democratic South Africa
- Authors: Collins, Selwyn Charles
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: Labor unions -- South Africa , Labor policy -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , LLM
- Identifier: vital:11036 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/354 , Labor unions -- South Africa , Labor policy -- South Africa
- Description: In South Africa, labour has played a central role in shaping the transition to democracy. It remained an open question as to whether labour could sustain it’s involvement during the period of consolidation after the first democratic elections. As was evident in other emerging democracies, economic liberalization often led to stagnation and high costs being imposed on workers, while weakening the state. South African trade unions thus faced formidable problems as they had to respond to rapid economic and industrial change. While being stubborn, South African trade unions remain adaptable enough to survive and grow into the 21st Century. In this dissertation, the writer examines the relevance of trade unions in contemporary South Africa and how they are coming to terms with the deregulated labour market, and the question of globalisation. We look at the emergence of new forms of collective bargaining, the growth of trade unions as partners in a changing workplace and the different ways trade unions are modernising themselves to attract new members. Labour when used as a collective force is capable of shaping democratization through the strategic use of power. Labour has the potential , through participation in negotiated compromises, to ensure that the costs of adjustments are not borne by workers alone. To this end, the South African trade union movement has developed innovative strategies and institutions.
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- Date Issued: 2004