Volume: Volume 18 - 2014

Article type: Refereed article

Author/s: Tshoose, Clarence and Tsweledi, Benjamin

Atypical employment relations, such as part-time work, temporary employment services, short-term, contingent work and independent contracting, have become increasingly prominent ways of organising work in recent years. Given its flexibility, labour broking is an international phenomenon, indicative of the needs of a rapidly changing global village, where industries expand and contract at increasing speed and modify their product offerings to match prevailing global demand. Against this background the article aims to examine the status of labour broking in South Africa. This article advances several reasons for the use of labour broking by employers. These reasons also indicate that labour broking should be seen in the broader context of atypical employment relationship. Similarly, the paradoxical mix of glamour and precariousness often associated with labour broking is discussed. The article also provides the latest trends and challenges facing labour broking in South African labour law.

Click to view and download article