Temporary Employment Services time limit to be reduced

We closed off with Gavin Stansfield - Director of Employment Law at Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr Inc. We were talking about the proposed time limitation on Temporary Employment Services being reduced from six months to three months. It appears that one of the great controversies surrounding the forthcoming amendments to the Labour Relations Act, No 66 of 1995 (LRA) is the continued right of existence of Temporary Employment Services (TES), given that TES employees are often subjected to abusive labour practices, and require additional statutory protection. The Portfolio Committee on Labour in the National Assembly has proposed that clause 44 of the 2012 Amendment Bill (proposed amendments) should allow for only three months, rather than six months as a maximum period. This means that if a worker performs work for a TES client in excess of three months the worker shall be deemed to be the employee of the client and will be entitled to the same wage and benefits as the client’s other permanent employees, unless a justifiable reason for different treatment exists. The proposed changes to the Bill will only be voted on in Parliament after the winter recess.