ARTICLE · 05 JUNE 2024

Balancing Flexibility And Stability

Consolidated Employers Organisation

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The origins of employment relationships derive from principles of Common Law and remain the basis of employment relationships in labour relations as they exist today.

South AfricaEmployment and HR

The origins of employment relationships derive from principles of Common Law and remain the basis of employment relationships in labour relations as they exist today. Many of the provisions of the Common Law employment contract have subsequently been amended and regulated by adopting legislation that sought to remedy the inadequacies of the Common Law, such as unequal bargaining power and the rise of collective rights through unionisation. Legislation was further adopted to impose minimum general conditions of employment.

The two prominent pieces of Legislation adopted for this purpose were the Labour Relations Act and the Basic Conditions of Employment Act. The Labour Relations Act regulates fair labour practices for both individual and collective rights and seeks to referee the employment relationship; for the purpose of this article, the intricacies of the Labour Relations Act will not be dealt with in detail. The second is the Basic Conditions of Employment Act

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