Onerous conditions
SIR — The article, “Experts poke holes in claim of labour broking cataclysm” (September 18), refers.
It is all very well for critics to say the study was not extensive enough and that it had taken into account the statistics used by the government from the Statistics SA survey. However, one needs to look at the facts on the ground to see how it affects real people and how the changes in the law have translated into job losses.
As a practising labour lawyer, I have noted numerous problems arising from the amendments. Many small companies have merely terminated the employment of individuals placed by labour brokers and have not created permanent jobs. I will hear from the critics, telling me that the evidence is anecdotal and not extensive enough, but individuals who have been dismissed or retrenched are not interested in surveys; they are merely interested in trying to gain worthwhile employment of some nature.
The devastation experienced by those who have been told to leave is immense. I have never experienced such fallout, even compared with the collapse of the world economy in 2008. My clients, which are admittedly small businesses, are expected to create jobs, not lose jobs.
When questioning the management of these small firms, they all allude to the fact that they can’t take the risk of employing people on a permanent basis, despite the fact that they do actually have a need for the work to be done.
Many of these small firms are not investing in their own businesses and an equal number are trying their utmost to mechanise and to double up the work for those who are in permanent employ.
The horrendous impression created by the labour amendments has led to a complete reluctance to create new jobs. It is no argument to state that this is an unintended consequence of the amendments, as many of us had warned the government about the possible reactions from the employers. When a country has almost 40% unemployment, it doesn’t help to create more and more onerous conditions and regulations in the labour law environment.
Michael Bagraim Cape Town