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Johannesburg - Business will suffer considerable negative effects if proposed changes to labour bills are implemented, the SA Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci) said on Friday.
The department of labour has proposed amendments to labour bills and is still accepting inputs.
In its submission, Sacci said that some of the negatives included increased wage and administrative costs that would later be passed on to consumers, with a knock-on effect on inflation.
Employees would have to receive equal pay for equal work or work of equal value irrespective of period of service, experience or expertise, productivity or performance, Sacci said.
The business group also warned that employers would react to the new legislation by reducing employment, increasing mechanisation of their operations, moving their operations offshore or closing down.
It added that all vacancies would have to be reported to a yet-to-be-established public employment services structure, with extremely punitive measures applied for failure to do so.
"Increased costs will also have a negative impact on the prices of South African exports," Sacci said.
"South African producers will lose competitiveness in global markets. Foreign direct investors will be discouraged from investing in SA."
The drafters of the bills appeared to have ignored a regulatory impact assessment commissioned by the department of labour that indicated serious shortcomings in the four bills, Sacci said.
It said the bills effectively banned labour brokers, which was in contravention of the International Labour Organisation Convention 181, to which SA was a signatory.
Sacci said current labour legislation accommodated all the problems and that it needed appropriate enforcement as opposed to amendment.
The department of labour has proposed amendments to labour bills and is still accepting inputs.
In its submission, Sacci said that some of the negatives included increased wage and administrative costs that would later be passed on to consumers, with a knock-on effect on inflation.
Employees would have to receive equal pay for equal work or work of equal value irrespective of period of service, experience or expertise, productivity or performance, Sacci said.
The business group also warned that employers would react to the new legislation by reducing employment, increasing mechanisation of their operations, moving their operations offshore or closing down.
It added that all vacancies would have to be reported to a yet-to-be-established public employment services structure, with extremely punitive measures applied for failure to do so.
"Increased costs will also have a negative impact on the prices of South African exports," Sacci said.
"South African producers will lose competitiveness in global markets. Foreign direct investors will be discouraged from investing in SA."
The drafters of the bills appeared to have ignored a regulatory impact assessment commissioned by the department of labour that indicated serious shortcomings in the four bills, Sacci said.
It said the bills effectively banned labour brokers, which was in contravention of the International Labour Organisation Convention 181, to which SA was a signatory.
Sacci said current labour legislation accommodated all the problems and that it needed appropriate enforcement as opposed to amendment.
