The scope and content of Labour law rules! include principal labour, equity, skills development and social security laws. Cases are used to explain legal principles. At the start of each chapter, a synopsis and key terminology and questions delete? are given to provide some focus. At the end of each chapter, self-assessment questions and feedback are provided as well as additional recommended reading. South African labour laws have led to an economy in which any job that fully complies with the law is also an expensive job. This, it has been argued, is especially true when compared with the costs of employment in other developing countries. Labour law rules! must be read and studied (and of course labour law must also be practiced) in the context of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 and laws (all which give effect to the Constitution), which had been passed after 1994. The latter, the Labour Relations Act, 1995, (LRA) the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, 1997, (BCEA) the Employment Equity Act, 1998 (EEA), the Skills Development Act, 1998 (SDA), the Skills Development Levies Act, 1999 (SDLA), and social security laws, aim to advance economic development, social justice, labour peace and the democratisation of the workplace, to achieve equity in the workforce, to enhance the skills of workers, to ensure safe workplaces, to prevent injuries and diseases in the workplace, and to ensure employees against unemployment. The context is further determined by the fact that South Africa has rejoined the International Labour Organisation (ILO) post 1994 and has ratified key ILO Conventions. In addition, Government has subsequently subscribed to the notion of 'decent work' as mooted by the ILO. Currently - about 16 years later - atypical work is increasing, unemployment is high, income inequality and skills shortages exist, a large percentage of the youth is not involved in employment, and, job creation is minimal. Calls have been made to make labour laws more flexible and to remove hurdles on job creation (from organised business), and to create sustainable jobs in an innovative way to alleviate poverty and to enforce laws better (from organised labour). In response to these calls, Government has announced its National Growth Plan 2010-2015 (google) with the aim of creating 5 million jobs by 2020 and has signed a national skills accord with business and labour. It has also proposed far-reaching amendments to the LRA, the BCEA, the EEA, and has suggested an Employment Services Bill, 2010, to set up a free public employment service which would register and place work seekers. After an outcry about contradictory provisions in the Amendment Bills, recommendations that went against Government's own assessment of the Bills and the social dialogue process being undermined in that the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC) has not been involved, the parties to the NEDLAC have agreed that since the Bills were so flawed it would not comment on them, but instead a Task Team has identified policy themes in current labour laws to further the polarised process. These are (i) atypical employment relationships (including addressing problems in atypical employment relationships in a manner that is conducive to job creation and decent work); (ii) dispute resolution (including the effectiveness of the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) and the Labour Court); (iii) compliance and enforcement (including strengthening the Department of Labour's (DOL) inspectorate); (iv) access to employment (including the promotion of youth employment); (v) equity (including equal pay for equal work); and (vi) collective bargaining (including violence in strikes and protection of vulnerable employees). Currently, discussions are taking place on the first topic. The aim is to have proposals ready by mid-2012.
