Previous contributions to this publication have dealt with the pending amendments to the primary employment legislation in South Africa. There is still no clarity regarding the date of implementation of such amendments, although it appears increasingly likely that the amendments will only take effect in the course of 2014.

Notably, initial proposals aimed at excluding senior employees from the majority of unfair dismissal protections as well as the introduction of a balloting requirement prior to strike action, have been abandoned in the Parliamentary process.

The remaining components of the pending amendments however still encompass material changes to South African employment law. There is a clear move away from the majoritarian approach to trade union recognition (which is currently the preferred status), by allowing for enforced recognition of trade unions with less employee support than required under existing legislation, even in the face of opposition from the majority union. The proposed mechanisms to ensure increased protection to employees in non-standard types of employment (e.g. fixed term or temporary employment services) have further been retained and indeed in some respects tightened further.

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