Issued by: National Economic Development and Labour Council
NEDLAC IN FINAL ROUNDS OF EMPLOYMENT STANDARDS NEGOTIATIONS
Nedlac's Management Committee has approved an agenda which could see negotiations around employment standards settled within the next few weeks.
Nedlac Executive Director Jayendra Naidoo said the final phase of negotiations would include:
"The Labour Market Chamber conveners and the overall Nedlac conveners have been mandated to finalise the draft Bill and, if necessary, a special session of the Management Committee will be called," Naidoo says.
"We are hoping that this agenda could be completed within the next three weeks, in good time to allow Parliament to consider the Bill before it goes into recess. The additional time will also allow the negotiating parties to thoroughly consider the final draft of the Bill."
Despite this brief delay, the negotiations, which began at the end of April, have maintained a good momentum, considering the range of issues to be discussed and the diverse opinions held by the business and labour constituencies, Naidoo says.
"We fully expect that Nedlac's consideration of the Employment Standards Bill will be finalised within the next few weeks."
Key issues around which discussions are taking place include:
Nedlac's consideration of a new employment standards era began with the tabling of a Green Paper by Government, and receiving responses from business and labour.
Subsequently, a draft Bill was presented to the constituencies by government for consideration and it is this which has been the focus of the current round of negotiations.