South African Employment Relations

The effective management of employment relations is not only integral to organisational success but also addresses the socioeconomic needs of all South Africans. Labour, employers and the government have a responsibility to balance, integrate and reconcile their partly common and partly divergent interests. South African employment relations therefore adopts a broader perspective to Employment Relations as a field of study and practice. Rather than focussing only on the traditional formal and collective dimensions of the field, all aspects of the employment relationship are incorporated.

This 9th edition of South African employment relations continues to build on its long-standing success, spanning more than 30 years, by including current events in the South African employment relations and wider socioeconomic and political environments. It furthermore deals with the latest legislative developments and other contemporary issues. Case studies and short inserts entitled “ER in practice” highlight the challenges posed by industry and the business community, with the goal of instilling confidence in daily business and employment relations activities in the real world. A new addition to the book is a sensitisation toward the African context in which South African organisations operate. The challenges experienced by employment relations practitioners in this unique environment are highlighted throughout the chapters and incorporated in the case studies.

Contents include the following:

• Fundamentals of employment relations
• Role-players and stakeholders in employment relations
• The development of employment relations in South Africa
• Labour legislation impacting on the employment relationship
• Conflict, collective bargaining and negotiation
• Industrial action and strike handling
• Organisation-level strategies, policies, procedures, processes and practices
• Employee involvement and participation
• The interplay between aspects of human resource management and labour relations dynamics

South African employment relations is aimed at both students and practitioners in this field.