Welcome to this very special edition of the Labour Law Newsflash. Our Annual Employment Conference was held this past Wednesday with the theme “Future-Proof Your Organisation”. For those who were not able to attend, we would like to dedicate this mailer to sharing some insights from the day with you.
Technology will not solve HR problems on its own
Peter Drucker famously stated that “Culture Eats Strategy For Breakfast”. You can have the best strategy out there for your business and HR department. However, if you do not have the people in your business, who are the right fit for your company culture, you have wasted time putting the strategy together in the first place.
This is particularly pertinent in the current economic climate where jobs are scarce and the pay-productivity ratio is not in sync.
All this must take place in the background of a changing technological environment in the South African context which requires us to redress inequality as well as to redress the imbalances of the past. The pace of transformation is slow and just like your communication and technology strategies, needs to be a key element in your business planning process.
The World of Work is changing and this poses a problem for South Africa as the country’s labour law (particularly the Labour Relations Act) sticks very closely to the narrow definition of an ‘employee’ and specifically excludes an independent contractor which is what a ‘digital nomad’ ultimately is. However, legislation such as the National Minimum Wage Act is taking this new form of work into account as it defines a worker as anyone who renders work for another person, as opposed to being employed by another. It is sad to note though that our labour law is lagging behind this ever-changing landscape.
Technology will never stop developing and, with it, neither will the world of work. We, at Global Business Solutions, make it our priority to be on top of all labour law trends and are well positioned to take your company and HR department into the future. We are also excited to announce the launch of our B-BBEE app and that there are a number of other apps on their way addressing amongst other matters, absenteeism management.
We look forward to being your partner on this journey. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you need to chat with us about anything labour law or HR related.
Kind regards
Johnny & Grant
