Industrial Relations & Legislation - Business Studies.
This section includes:
- The constitution
- Labour Relations Act
- Basic Conditions of Employment Act
- Employment Equity Act
- Black Economic Empowerment
- Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment
- Skills Development Act
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS AND
LEGISLATION
CONSTITUTION:
With the bi rth of Democrac y on 27 April 1994, it w as necessary to drastically amend the
Constituti on to e nsure equality for all citizens.
Democrac y implies th at all citizens, regardless of colour, race, gender or c ulture, h ave th e right
to v ote f or the government.
Both private citizens and businesses fall unde r the Constitution, and it also forms the basis of all
other laws within the c ountry.
The Constituti on of the Re public of South Africa (Act 108 of q996, as amended) was adopted by
the Constitutional Assembly on 8 May 1996 and amende d on 11 October 1996.
HUMAN RIG HTS:
ª Because of the history of Apartheid – Human Rights f orms an important part of the
Constituti on (Ch apte r 2).
ª The Bill of Rights spells out very detailed and specific rights and responsibilities of all
citizens of the country. No right comes without responsibilities – the Constituti on and the
laws of the c ountry will protect you, but you have the responsi bility to uph old th ose laws
and the v alues e ntre nched i n that Constituti on.
ª Human rights are those basic and fundamental things that you are e ntitle d to just
because you belong to the human race. No one has any more or any less such rights. They
are also i nalie nable – me aning that they are yours f orever and cannot be taken away.
ª Among those rights stipulate d in the Bill of Rights are: equality, f reedom of
expression and associati on (trade unions), poli tical and property rights, housing, health
care, education, access to inf ormation, access to courts, children’s ri ghts, w oman’s
rights, h uman dignity, discrimination, right to life, free from vi olence of any ki nd, right to
privacy, free dom of reli gion, free dom of trade – occupati on – profession, labour re lati ons,
environmental issue s.
ª Human Rights Comm ission will assist citizens that h ave their rights violate d to approach
the Constitutional Court. The Commissi on also works at developing h uman ri ghts aware ness
amongst citizens and also advises government agencies and officials.
ª Lim itation Clause – sometimes it is necessary to limit certain rights as pe ople’s rights
might conflict e.g. I may have the right to freedom of expressi on, but if I exercise that
right in a way that thre atens your di gnity, th en it is alienati ng one of YOU R ri ghts. Secti on
36 of the Constitution lays down the strict conditi ons for these limitati ons.
INCLUSIV ITY:
ª Inclusivity is one of the basic rights in the Constitution – the right to have equal
opportunities and i nclusion in all aspects of lif e within South Afric a, and not to be
discriminated against.
ª Specific laws and actions were nee ded to re dress the problems of the past (Aparthei d) –
e.g. Skills Deve lopment Act that aims to provide traini ng and opportunities for all to
improve their skills and e arning capacity, EE Act, BBBEE Act, affirmative acti on etc.
SASHTI NOTES 1
, ª No disc riminati on or stere otyping agai nst race , disabilities or other me dical conditi ons (e.g.
AIDS) = same opportunities as eve ryone else.
Functions of Trade Unions and Em ployer Organisations
ª A trade union is any number of employees i n a partic ular undertaking, industry, trade or
occupation associate d togethe r for the purpose of regulating re lati ons in that
undertaking, industry, trade or occupati on be tween themselves or some of them and their
employers or some of their employe rs.
SASHTI NOTES 2
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