Assessing the Effectiveness of Bargaining Council Exemptions in S.A. for the national Department of Labour

Project summary:

An examination of the effectiveness of the exemption systems of the 49 private and public sector and statutory bargaining councils operative in the various private and public sectors of South Africa through the use of surveying methods and in-depth interviews. Bargaining Councils, employers and employers’ associations and affected companies in all the economic sectors were surveyed and the results of this analysis were presented in a final report completed in July 2014.

The Report covers issues such as the labour market and collective bargaining trends, including sector trends and the scope of bargaining councils, its core business, coverage and exemption provisions of bargaining councils and levels of self-regulation. Measuring the impact of the regulatory framework for bargaining council exemptions with reference to the extent, failure and success rates of exemption applications in 2002-2013. This includes applications made, approved, refused, appealed and withdrawn; party and non-party applications for exemptions received, approved, refused, appealed and withdrawn; the  number of employees covered by exemption applications in small, medium and large firms and party and non-party applications by type of request. 

The economic and organisational dimensions of bargaining council exemptions and company responses was also considered. This involved analysing the organisational and financial dimensions of bargaining council exemptions with particular reference to access to bargaining council information and support in relation to consultation, turnaround times of the exemption process and costs to company. Company experiences of the exemption system in the manufacturing sector were also considered. Stakeholder initiatives to change the exemption system with reference to adjusting the exemption system to changing circumstances and attaining exemption through litigation was analysed   simultaneously highlighting key organisational, financial and regulatory and economic challenges. Reporting protocols and regulatory impact assessment and policy considerations in the context of cyclical downturns and access to sector support instruments were considered as critical to improving outcomes through sustained stakeholder engagement