Ban may cost one million jobs

Port Elizabeth - A ban on labour broking could cost South Africa a million jobs, warns Richard Pike, chief executive of staffing group Adcorp.

This comes in the wake of labour minister Membathisi Mdladlana again railing against labour broking and comparing it to, for instance, human trafficking "in which companies sell labour to the highest bidder at the lowest possible wage".

Pike cautions against a ban being placed on labour broking such as that in Namibia, where it had the unintended consequence of 30% of the contract workers losing their jobs.

In South Africa the cost could be a million jobs.

Kelly Group chief executive Grenville Wilson says the industry is in favour of regulation, but this should be accompanied by policing, so that the few opportunists can be checked.

Good industry players understand the controls that are necessary, and bring them to the Nedlac table via Business Unity South Africa (Busa), he maintains.

According to Pike there is a misconception among unions regarding the temporary employment sector.

Cosatu assumes that the sector is placing workers in unprotected workplaces where they are exploited, but this is not true.

The industry plays an important role in the labour market, because modern workplaces need for contract workers.

Various industries, such as the building industry, retail, and the security industry, to mention but a few, require seasonal workers.

Candidates are assessed for placement in positions to which they are suited.

This helps both employer and employee.

Pike says the temporary labour sector introduces people seeking work for the first time to the labour market.

This group comprises 50% of workers placed by the temporary employment sector, and about half of these are permanently appointed within a year.

Wilson reckons when companies in, for instance, the information technology or banking sector seek permanent staff for their call centres, recruitment starts among the temporary staff that already have experience in that field.

He rejects the minister's contention that labour brokers themselves pocket compulsory deductions like for unemployment insurance and pensions.

Kelly Group was one of the first to introduce all benefits for temporary workers.

They can, for example, contribute to a provident fund while they are working, and the fund's benefits do not cease when they are unemployed.

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