TES becomes driving force for South Africa’s gig economy

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By Natashia Barnabas, Industrial Relations Manager at Workforce Staffing
13 April 2021

Temporary Employment Services (TES) have been utilised mainly in first-world economies whereby organisations have the flexibility to procure required skills on a part-time (ad-hoc) or on a fixed term (temporary) basis. These services are usually contracted in order to complete a project, cater for a business project (fixed duration), provide additional staffing due to fluctuations in volume of work, as well as to cater for seasonal work. Adopting a gig economy within South Africa could be the turning point in the lowering of the unemployment rate and increasing the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

In January 2021, The United States of America (USA) saw temporary employment rise by 81 000 jobs which amassed a total of 83,5% of new jobs just for the month. The latest unemployment rate for South Africa has revealed an increase of 32,5% with 7,2 million people jobless. However, to bolster a gig economy in South Africa, companies require a constant supply of skilled, as well as unskilled staff with the ability to manage the workforce. This is where a TES provider can assist.

Gig economy overview

By definition, a gig economy refers to a labour market whereby short-term or freelance work is preferred over that of permanent jobs. A gig refers to

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Flexible staffing solutions help to address diversity and inclusion challenges in a post-Covid world

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By Jeandie Leone, Commercial Manager at Workforce Staffing
31 March 2021

The past year has been incredibly challenging for employees for a multitude of reasons. Adapting to the Work From Home (WFH) normal, juggling this with home schooling and facing salary cuts and lay-offs were a few of the issues faced. The greatest pressure has been felt by unskilled workers, the youth and women. Adding to these issues, there has also been an increase in discrimination around employees with health challenges or comorbidities. Temporary Employment Services (TES) providers are ideally positioned to help both employees and employers with addressing diversity and inclusion, and other challenges, in a post-Covid world.

The marginalised pushed further to the edge

The most detrimental effects of the pandemic on the workforce were felt by those who were already marginalised. The Stats SA Quarterly Labour Force Survey shows that the lower income brackets and less skilled workers, who are often from previously disadvantaged backgrounds, were at greatest risk of losing their jobs. Pregnant women and those with comorbidities were also treated differently and were at risk, particularly if they were unable to work from home. 

However, while these issues were highlighted by the Covid-19 pandemic, they were not caused by it.

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The constructive dismissal paradigm

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Constructive dismissal remains one of the most difficult things for an employee to prove. 

The rules that govern constructive dismissal haven’t undergone any major changes over the past three years, a fact that should give any employee pause before they embark down this difficult road. With many other forms of employment legislation, the onus lies on the company to prove that they didn’t do wrong by their employees. With constructive dismissal, however, the onus sits on the employee. According to Nicol Myburgh, Head: CRS Technologies HCM Business Unit, this puts immense pressure on the employee to prove that their relationship with the company was completely intolerable.

“The employee has to substantiate their constructive dismissal claim by ticking boxes and showing that they’ve put in all the work and followed all due process,” he explains. “This is very difficult to prove in many cases and the claim often doesn’t make it past the first hurdle.”

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