The Department of Labour’s bungling of draft policy agreements reached at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) undermines the work of the organisation, says Nedlac executive director Madoda Vilakazi. The department cannot change agreements such as those reached on the national minimum wage when drafting bills, Vilakazi said. This comes after labour federations and community constituencies slated the manner in which the department has handled the minimum wage bills after some sections of the legislation were changed. The department bungled a key definition of "worker" in the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, thereby excluding independent contractors and task-based work from the category of covered employees. The bills also introduced new provisions that were not discussed at Nedlac during negotiations between the government, business, labour and the community, such as the scrapping of sectoral determinations, which currently determine the wage levels of dom...
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