1. Portfolio Committee on Labour
The New Growth Path
Labour Policies
Portfolio Committee on Labour
13th September 2011
Overall Responsibility:
Director General: Mr N Nhleko
Millineum Development Goals: Progress Report April 2011
The NGP& Adherence of Foreign Companies to Labour Laws

2. New Growth Path and the Labour Department
BACKGROUND
The NGP implications to DOL.
The New Growth Path listed a package of interventions and number of policy instrument necessary to achieve five million jobs over the next decade.
“Labour policies” are listed amongst the ten Microeconomic package ten programmes that are necessary to achieve “Decent Work and Equity”
The NGP intends building on various legislation that has been introduced since 1994 to protect vulnerable workers, to support employment equity, to ensure health and safety and to assist workers in finding employment and training opportunities.

3. New Growth Path: Implementation Focus for DOL
“A national Productivity Accord supplemented by sector and workplace productivity agreements”
Progress:
During 2010/11 Productivity SA engaged in the following:
- Established 108 future forums in various workplaces to prevent job losses and saved jobs
- 46 company turnaround strategies were developed
- 139 proactive future forums were established
- 105 companies and productivity champions were trained
A number of collective bargaining agreements include productivity provisions

4. New Growth Path: Implementation Focus for DOL
2. “Legislative amendments to reduce workers vulnerability by addressing problems experienced in contract work, sub-contracting, outsourcing and labour broking and including decent work considerations in the procurement process, consistent with the electoral mandate”
Progress:
All issues are being dealt with in the NEDLAC negotiation process. Once the process with the Bills are completed the Amendment Bills will be tabled at Parliament. 4

5. New Growth Path: Implementation Focus for DOL
3. “Ways to limit the abuse of the CCMA by Senior Managers and professionals who have access to other dispute-settlement systems but tie up the process with procedural points, and generally to further improve cost-effective services to workers and employers.”
Progress:
This issue is being dealt with under the theme: Dispute Resolution, which forms part of the deliberations at NEDLAC. 5

6. New Growth Path: Implementation Focus for DOL
4. “Expanding the role of the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) in funding DFI efforts to create employment and extending employment services to assist unemployed to find employment”
Progress:
UIF has invested R35 billion out of its R52 billion reserves in commercial socially responsible investment portfolio that support the creation and sustaining of jobs. 6

7. New Growth Path: Implementation Focus for DOL
4. UIF Continued
To stimulate job creation, the UIF invested a R2 billion private placement bond with the IDC. IDC Reports indicate that the investment has had a positive impact on job creation and retention. R 1 billion has been approved for a total of 76 transactions, creating about new jobs and saving more than existing jobs.
The UIF funded participants in the Training Lay-Off scheme saving employees from being retrenched in sectors ranging from clothing and textile to car manufacturing. 7

8. New Growth Path: Implementation Focus for DOL
5. “Improvements to functioning of the Labour Centres in order to improve information about employment and training opportunities”
Progress:
Through the 125 labour centres,73 visiting Thusong centres and 20 mobile truck visiting points, DOL was able to:
job seekers were registered across the country 8

9. New Growth Path: Implementation Focus for DOL
5. Labour Centres continued:”
Progress:
were provided with career counseling and were assessed on the SpEEx System
were placed in jobs and were placed in scarce skills employment
were referred to UI for benefits, to Compensation Fund and to DHET for further training 9

10. New Growth Path: Implementation Focus for DOL
6. “Measures to support the organization of the unorganized, in particular farm workers”
Progress:
The Department of Labour has commissioned a study on “Identifying the obstacles to union organisation on farms: Towards a decent work strategy for the farming sector.”
The Department is awaiting the conclusion of the process and the recommendations arising from the study. 10

11. Adherence of foreign companies to SA Labour Laws
The inspections are conducted across all companies within the borders of the republic irrespective of their ownership
Where companies are found to be non compliant, irrespective of ownership they are served with contravention notices.

12. THANK YOU 12