Nritika Singh, MD of Isilumko Staffing, a national recruitment company, which offers temporary, flexible and permanent staff, comments, “As part of the recruitment industry we would like to add our voice to the mounting opposition and concern over draft legislation before parliament, which includes major amendments to current Acts, as well as an entirely new Act.

“In a nutshell the following amendments are proposed: to the Employment Equity Act –

• Substantial increases to the fines for EE non-compliance. 2-10% of annual turnover. Was a maximum fine of R900K, R500K for first offendor.
• Unfair discrimination if different salaries for the same work. “Equal work, equal pay principle”. Employees and managers above the earning threshold to be excluded.
• Removes first undertaking, co-operative element. Goes straight to a Compliance Order.

“To the Basic Conditions of Employment Act –

• Proposes similar or equal value wages and benefits between temporary and permanent staff. This is administratively problematic with pensions and medical aid schemes and will push up the employment costs. Likely to result in a loss of jobs.

“To the Labour Relations Act-

• Repeals Section 198 of the LRA dealing with Labour Brokers (Temporary Employment Services). No outright ban though.
• Removes the certainty of knowing who the employer is in the triangular relationship. Currently the TES is defined as the employer. May mean that both client and agency can be sued in future.
• Joint liability in sub-contracting. Hugely problematic and would be contrary to the trend elsewhere in the world.
• Presumption of permanent employment. Employee must be employed permanently unless the employer can justify the fixed term.”

Singh adds that there is a new Employment Services Bill proposed, with the following provisions: Agencies will need licences issued by a newly appointed Registrar. Licences can be withdrawn. Changes the definition of “Employer” which seems to exclude Labour Brokers. Includes “directs or supervises” in the new definition. New reporting duties on companies for vacancies and positions filled. Does this mean that the government becomes an agency?

Singh says, “We need to know if this is effectively a ban. Our recruitment business seems to fall under private employment agencies, however we don’t know our role and functions. The Minister has the power to ban agencies. Labour Brokers would need to register. There would be a 3 year transitional period. It creates uncertainty, lack of flexibility and a likely massive loss of jobs. Even the regulatory impact assessment report commissioned by government cautions that the proposed changes may well lead to significant job losses. This would be catastrophic in a country where the government has promised to increase the number of jobs. Ironically the government itself is one of the largest employers of temporary staff. What is clear is that it labour brokers play a significant role in the employment sector, with an average of close to a million temporary workers employed in South Africa every day.”

Singh points out that in December 2009 the Namibian Supreme Court of Appeal held that the banning of labour hire is unconstitutional. The ruling reversed the situation and declared it permissible for labour hire to continue operating. This ruling may influence the Department of Labour (DOL) in their deliberations. SA is supposed to have the most progressive constitution in the world. This may well be tested by the Constitutional Court if the Acts are passed in their present form.

Singh believes that the DOL and the institutions who are entrusted to enforce legislation, need to ensure capacity to enforce legislation which we have now, instead of passing additional legislation.

Singh concludes, “ It is significant to note that approximately 980,000 people were employed through labour brokers in SA last year. This is under 10% of the total employment in South Africa. APSO, of which we are a member, has been at the forefront of moves to achieve self-regulation in our industry, with a proposed tightening of controls on the code of best practice and ethics. If we as an industry act in a unified way and follow all the current Labour Law legislation to the letter and introduce a strong self regulatory system in our TES division we could successfully counteract the threat of wholesale labour law changes currently being drafted by the government.”

•    On site management: IS places a manager on site to co-ordinate the scheduling and placement of staff each day, e.g. on a production line should a staff member be absent, those that are present are re-allocated.  The manager is also responsible for generating the absenteeism report.  This process has ensured proactive management of staff. IS provides an onsite reserve team, as well as a standby team, who can be sent to the company within 30 minutes of the alert. Thus creating a preventative situation and obviating any possible downtime on shifts and ensuring the smooth running of the business.

•    Incentives: IS provides and promotes special incentive reward programmes for staff on behalf of the client. There is a reward for positive behavior, which takes the form of a tangible cash, appliance or shopping voucher-type incentive. A group scheme sick
fund kitty can also be implemented and apportioned pro rata.

Singh concludes, “Absenteeism increases costs, reduces service and productivity and demotivates fellow staff. You cannot avoid some absenteeism, but levels above 10% indicate a serious problem. We believe that our measures can turn the situation around.”

The basic list of 130 employer organisations from which respondents are requested to select their favoured future employer, is compiled annually by the Magnet Communications research team.  The team’s selection is empirically guided by the current employer branding environment, emerging trends and past rankings.  

Significant to the NHLS’s achievement in this year’s ranking is the fact that they were voted onto the list – they have never had any standing on the list previously.  Peter Johannson, MD of Magnet Communications says, “This is an extraordinary achievement in anybody’s book.  This year students demonstrated a great degree of independence in making their choices, in that they chose three organisations that were not on the research questionnaire’s basic list of 130 employers.”   

Below-the-line marketing specialists, Isilumko Media, powered by Studentwise, strategized, created and implemented a turn-key campaign for the NHLS.  The intensive schedule included open day events; 1st, 2nd and 3rd year presentations, laboratory tours and other multi-media campus events; combined with a comprehensive rural schools road show targeting high school learners before they commence their university studies.  

Isilumko Media’s primary objective of this marketing partnership was to shift the image of the NHLS to that of employer of choice, by highlighting the diversity of exposure offered by the NHLS as opposed to the private laboratories.

Brendan Powell, General Manager at Isilumko Media elaborates, “The aggressive growth of the partnership between Isilumko Media and the NHLS over the last five years has seen the campaign evolve into the impactful recruitment drive that is today ultimately addressing the skills shortage within the Medical Technology profession and providing a larger number and better quality employees for the national pathology service.  

Nritika Singh, Managing Director at Isilumko says, “With a marketing task of this magnitude and intricacy, there are many obstacles to overcome, but our committed team constantly refined our strategy to navigate the unpredictable rural terrain and ever-changing campus environment, ensuring fluidity between the multiple tiers of activity.”

Isilumko Staffing prides itself on exceptional operational excellence and a practical people-centered approach to business which has set us apart from competitors and led to the exceptional growth of the company.  Our vision to be remembered for the positive contribution made to each of our stakeholders, bears testament to our focus on and loyalty towards our internal people, clients and candidates. 

At the forefront of Isilumko’s success is the executive team who have fostered the development of woman and led the company along a path of immense success.  The honour of being crowned the most gender empowered company can somewhat be attributed to the fact that Isilumko Staffing has 80% female senior management in their ranks and 80% of the an entire staff compliment consisting of women; which have seen our company grow exponentially in size, reputation and profitability.

To lead by example, is an old proverb which Nritika Singh, Managing Director, and Lauren Durant , Operations Director, have thoroughly embraced and set in stone the immense success that comes with bringing the positive power of femininity into a cut-throat industry. These key women have mentoring many female staff over their combined 30 years of service to Isilumko. Their mentees include Key Accounts Manager, Virgilene Moodley, Key Accounts Manager, Jeromy Pereira, Recruitment Manager, Mandy Carelse, and Marketing Manager, Alex Mullord. Whilst benefits of an intangible nature bear fruit well into the future, the share options that were recently made available to key staff has further extended the opportunities for empowerment.

A thank-you must be extended to each and every one of our clients who have supported us over the last 19 years resulting in the successful company we see today and enabling Isilumko to meaningfully contribute to the cause of gender empowerment. Without you, this would not have been possible.

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Nritika Singh, MD of Isilumko Staffing, comments, “The staffing industry is awaiting the much anticipated draft Bill from the Minister with interest. Public hearings took place around the country in 2009, followed by the drafting of a Draft Discussion document by the Department of Labour (DOL). The process is that after completion of the Bill, the Minister will need to take the Bill to Parliament for approval in principle. Thereafter, it is tabled and debated in NEDLAC.

“The DOL is waiting for Parliament’s labour committee, which has considered the public hearings, to advise with their recommendations. If legislation is to be passed by November 2010, the Bill needs to be passed by mid-July 2010. Given all the processes, it is unlikely that there will be a change in the statutes regulating labour brokers before next year.”

Singh adds that in December 2009 the Namibian Supreme Court of Appeal held that the banning of labour hire is unconstitutional. The ruling reversed the situation and declared it permissible for labour hire to continue operating. This ruling may influence the DOL in their deliberations.

Some of the regulations that are likely to be in the Bill include:

• Labour brokers need to be registered;
• the Minister may have certain powers to prohibit Labour broking in specific sectors if abuse is found;
• joint and several liability for compliance with labour legislative obligations including the Labour Relations Act;
• during probation, only protection against automatically unfair dismissals would apply;
• and a prohibition of discrepancy in wages and working conditions between temporary assignees and direct employees.

Singh says that there are positives to be taken from the draft Bill by the industry. For example the reputable staffing companies represented by APSO and umbrella body CAPES, support statutory compliance and believe that abusive practices by unscrupulous operators should be stopped. Singh continues, “There is a misconception that assignees have a lower grade of protection than permanent employees. However, the reality is that the Labour Relations Act, Employment Equity, Skills Development, Basic Conditions of Employment Act (all assignees working for more than 24 hours per month) and Bargaining Councils all apply and provide temporary assignees with rights and remedies. The credible staffing companies are registered and comply with their statutory obligations.

“We provide for a statutory allowance in our costings to cover the BCEA leave benefits, UIF, Skills Development and COID. The industry frowns upon unregistered operators who undercut margins by failing to provide benefits stipulated by statute. The industry representative body, APSO, also compels its members to subscribe to a Code of Ethics and provides that member consultants need to write an industry entrance level exam. We would welcome further regulation which encourages compliance for all companies wishing to operate in this space.” Steve Katz, HR and Legal Director of Isilumko Staffing, says that extending liability under the Labour Relations Act to the client as well as the Labour Broker may be welcome. The reputable organizations contract with clients on the basis that they can discharge their legal obligations as employer.

We provide that clients will co-operate with us so that we can carry out the poor performance and disciplinary processes as stipulated by statute. This may further encourage clients to err on the side of compliance and avoid utilizing the short-cut operators. “In our opinion, relaxing the unfair dismissal responsibilities during probation would be welcomed by staffing companies and employers alike. Our unemployment levels are worryingly high, particularly amongst the youth. The latest budget provides for the state to partly subsidize the employment of the youth. Relaxing dismissal procedures would provide employers with further encouragement,” concludes Katz.

As seen in:

• Star in the Workplace
• Cape Argus
• Skills Portal

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“The extraordinary popularity of Facebook in South Africa, for example, has created a revolution in social networking and its use is quickly expanding to supplement business functions such as brand building and recruitment. This new generation networking tool means users can share quality content and information more rapidly and effectively than before.”

She says recruiters are making the most of the interactive social media, which have the potential to discover new talent, can be short or long term, have a focus on the company showcased and career destination, and a closer match between candidate and prospective employer.

“You can also use social networks as sourcing tools to reach passive candidates and for hard to fill positions. It’s not that the current or traditional model does not work and should be discarded…”

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