GETTING BACK TO WORK . . .

Recovering from the festive season

Gradually, life (especially working life) is returning to normal. Some lucky ones are still on leave, only returning to work later in January. But for many, it is now a question of picking up where we left off at the end of 2003, putting the festivities behind us and easing back into the swing of things.
For many employers, the issue is to gear back up to full productivity as soon as possible: many employees are still in holiday mood (or mode), exchanging pictures and stories about their vacations and their celebrations. Getting employees back to work at this time of year is not an easy task, as many employees will take some time to fully realise that their break is something of the past and that their focus must now return to their work.
Speculating about 2004
2004 is, of course, an election year, and that will mean, inevitably, that public attention will largely shift to the political arena, until the elections have run their course. Much politicking is to be expected, and media attention will no doubt focus largely on the parties, their campaigns and the politicians seeking (re)election.
From a labour relation’s perspective, however, things will probably trundle along for the largest part of the year. In some sectors, debates about collective bargaining, bargaining structures (such as recognition agreements and bargaining councils), deliberations as to the relative advantages and disadvantages of centralised (as opposed to plant-level or company-level) bargaining will continue. These are difficult choices to make, and difficult debates that will, no doubt, continue to exercise the minds of employers and trade unions in some sectors.
This year may also see the final demise of the Labour Court as we know it, and the functions exercised by that Court will be transferred to specialist panels of the High Court. We have alluded to this issue and the debates about the Labour Court and its survival on IR Network during 2003, and it remains to be seen whether the legislature, once the fuss around the election is over and done with, can still get around to resolving this very real and pertinent question.
What effect will this transfer to the High Court have on our labour law? Some think that common law principles and considerations, including contractual principles, will enjoy more prominence than they have in the Labour Court or the Labour Appeal Court. Others believe that the High Court will deal with labour matters in more or less the same way and using the same basic approach of the Labour Court. The question as to how and whether the High Court’s approach will differ from that of the Labour Court remains open.
Dismissals will continue, and, in some sectors, retrenchments of some scale may be necessary as employers find themselves facing up to international competition and other economic factors beyond their control (such as the relative strength of our currency). It seems that more and more employers are opting for ‘lean and mean’ operations, especially in manufacturing. On the services side, however, organisations seem to be getting bigger all the time. Considering the developments in labour law in 2003, more and more employers may opt to change terms and conditions of employment, and, if employees refuse to accept the new changes, retrench them to make place for employees who will work under the new conditions.
No doubt further developments will take place in the context of misconduct dismissals, especially relating to procedural aspects. Last year we noted a number of cases arising from the procedural side of these dismissals, especially the difficult question of legal representation. It may be that our law on this point becomes even more complicated, making it more difficult for employers to comply with the requirements of procedural fairness.
What wage bargaining will look like is, at this early point in the year, anybody’s guess. If inflation remains low and interest rates follow suit, significant pressure may be placed on trade unions to lower their demands. It may be that we see even lower percentage increases than we did last year. It is also unclear as to whether we’ll see the same number of strikes that we saw last year — seen generally, last year’s big strikes related more to organisational issues (restructuring, contracts of employment, temporary workers) than to wages — the most notable exception being the close call in the mining sector (even there issues such as job grading cropped up).
Buckle your seat belts!
No doubt, whatever 2004 delivers, it will be an exciting year for all of us here at IR Network. As usual, we’ll keep you posted with all the new developments in the field as and when they happen. 2004, with the election and other big social issues (employment equity, skills development) may just prove to be a bumpier ride than we perhaps expect it to be! So buckle up and come and enjoy the IR ride through 2004 with us!