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Regulated Flexibility and Small Business: Revisiting the LRA and the BCEA

Author

Listed:
  • Halton Cheadle

    (Faculty of Law, University of Cape Town)

Abstract
The object of the paper is to identify the conceptual underpinnings of the labour law reforms of the 1990s, particularly the concept of regulated flexibility, and the changes to the labour market since then in order to review the performance of those reforms and to propose changes to more appropriately regulate that market. The main argument made in this paper is that the concept of regulated flexibility may be put to good use in extending protection to those who most need it and limiting intervention, particularly judicial intervention, where there is no appreciable gain in protection. The paper reviews the regulation each of the standard incidents of the employment relationship, from recruitment to termination, and finds that much of this regulation (in the form of an unfair labour practice remedy) escaped careful scrutiny in the reform process in the 1990s. The unfair labour practice remedy has, for the most part, become a charter of rights for middle and senior management while the most vulnerable workers are left without protection. Rather than intensifying regulation, labour law reform should be setting its sights on the extension of protection to those who most need it, namely employees in atypical employment. The paper makes various proposals to fine-tune the legal regulation of the labour market, in particular removing unnecessary regulation in the form of judicial interference in the employment relation and extending legislative protection to the most vulnerable.

Suggested Citation

  • Halton Cheadle, 2006. "Regulated Flexibility and Small Business: Revisiting the LRA and the BCEA," Working Papers 06109, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit.
    • Handle: RePEc:ctw:wpaper:06109
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7352
    File Function: First version, 2006
    Download Restriction: no
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Haroon Bhorat & Halton Cheadle, 2009. "Labour Reform in South Africa: Measuring Regulation and a Synthesis of Policy Suggestions," Working Papers 09139, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit.
    2. Haroon Bhorat & Ravi Kanbur & Benjamin Stanwix & Amy Thornton, 2021. "Measuring Multi‐Dimensional Labour Law Violation with an Application to South Africa," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 59(3), pages 928-961, September.
    3. Paul BENJAMIN & Haroon BHORAT & Halton CHEADLE, 2010. "The cost of “doing business” and labour regulation: The case of South Africa," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 149(1), pages 73-91, March.
    4. Bhorat, Haroon & Naidoo, Karmen & Yu, Derek, 2014. "Trade unions in an emerging economy: The case of South Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series 055, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    5. Haroon Bhorat & Carlene van der Westhuizen, 2009. "A Synthesis of Current Issues in the Labour Regulatory Environment," Working Papers 09136, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit.
    6. Henry Nweke-Love & Modupe Ake & Joseph Iseolorunkanmi & Joy Oladapo & Bamidele Rasak, 2023. "Casual Workers’ Conditions in Private University’s Commercial Farms, North-Central Nigeria," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 7(12), pages 1781-1796, December.
    7. Haroon Bhorat & Karmen Naidoo & Derek Yu, 2014. "Trade Unions in an Emerging Economy: The Case of South Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2014-055, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    8. Haroon Bhorat & Kalie Pauw & Liberty Mncube, 2009. "Understanding the Efficiency and Effectiveness of the Dispute Resolution System in South Africa:An Analysis of CCMA Data," Working Papers 09137, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit.
    9. Haroon Bhorat, 2012. "A Nation in Search of Jobs: Six Possible Policy Suggestions for Employment Creation in South Africa," Working Papers 12150, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    South Africa: SMMEs; Regulating flexibility and Small Business. LRA; BCEA;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A1 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics

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