The Role of Labour Brokers in Atypical Employment Relationship
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COPYRIGHT AND CITATION CONSIDERATIONS FOR THIS THESIS/ DISSERTATION o Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. o NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes. o ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original. How to cite this thesis Surname, Initial(s). (2012) Title of the thesis or dissertation. PhD. (Chemistry)/ M.Sc. (Physics)/ M.A. (Philosophy)/M.Com. (Finance) etc. [Unpublished]: University of Johannesburg. Retrieved from: https://ujcontent.uj.ac.za/vital/access/manager/Index?site_name=Research%20Output (Accessed: Date). THE ROLE OF LABOUR BROKERS IN ATYPICAL EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP by THABANG ENIEL MARULE Thesis Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Doctor in Philosophy in Employment Relations Management Faculty of Management UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG Study leader: Prof. W. J. Schurink Co-Study leader: Prof. W. I. Ukpere 2017 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The sound mind and specific talents come from the Almighty God who provided the space for me to contribute to society both through this study and in other ways. My father, Size Phushuku Marule, who inculcated the values that helped me to navigate the journey of life, make appropriate choices and trust in my capabilities. My mother, Alley Bampotsang Marule, who raised her family in despite a system that sought to separate husbands from their wives and children My study leaders, Prof W. J. Schurink and Prof W. I. Ukpere, who provided me with such patient guidance throughout the research journey. Much of my familiarisation with certain research methods happened as the study unfolded. Fortunately, my study leaders were there; advising on the best approaches and methods. My wife (left), Reshoketswe Dorcus Marule, who offered solid support and comradeship during the research journey. Also, our colleague and prayer partner, Trixie Sibongile Lekhuleni, who provided spiritual support during the career challenges I experienced throughout the study. i My children who remained strong during my ordeal and provided a reason for me to remain focused on the bigger goal. Refilwe Audrey (left), Innocent Dineo (right) and granddaughter Vanita Ally Sibusiso Mashaba, a provincial office bearer in the Food and Allied Worker Union (FAWU), who suggested strategies that assisted me to gain access to the research participants. Senior Commissioner, Glen McCormack for providing insights into the CCMA approaches in his dealing with disputes in the labour broker environment. Nthabiseng Makhajane of the COSATU national office, for advising me on how to download electronic secondary material of COSATU campaigns. Dr C. F. Smuts, Director of Administration; for offering positive encouragement and adjusting my work schedule and thereby enabling me to finalise the thesis in time. ii ABSTRACT Aim: The aim of the study is to explore and describe the views and work experiences of temporary employee services (TES) employees situated in settings in four economic sectors; with the aim of understanding what TES means to a vulnerable segment of employees. Key objectives included Developing an apt qualitative research approach to capture and unravel the experiences of TES employees working in settings in four sectors of the South African economy. Studying the work of prominent scholars in relevant study field and extrapolate theoretical constructs by means of which the experiences and perceptions of TES employment contracting may be understood. Developing a substantial theory of TES. Methodology: A multiple case study was selected, driven by qualitative approach. Grounded theory was used as data analysis method for cases involved as sources of data. Participant observation and interviews were used as techniques for data collection. In line with the grounded theory tradition, literature was applied during and after data collection; to shape the direction of further sampling strategy and analysis. Key findings: Four key themes emerged namely the push factors, service conditions, the preferred future of TES phenomenon and the coping mechanisms of TES employees. The outcome of the study suggested that policy makers and business entities should introduce baseline protective measures including bridging the gap in conditions of service between permanent full-time employees and employees contracted through alternative work arrangements. Implications: For employees, role of TES is to offer stop-gap employment contracts to job seekers as cost-saving measure by client firms looking for workers to perform tasks of seasonal and time-bound nature and, in some instances, to help the workers to transition from temporary to permanent jobs. Regarding employment relations and business ethical considerations; the findings pointed to the need for role players (government, business and organised labour) to ensure compliance to ethical principles of both human resources and industrial relations (HRIR) nature. Regarding human resources procurement and stakeholder management practices, an iii appropriate balance should be determined in order to cater for the interests of all relevant/interested parties. Contributions: theoretically, by integrating the research participants‟ concrete constructions with human resources and industrial relations ethical principles a substantive theory of temporary employment service was constructed. A model of TES employment contracting developed from the themes. Methodologically, both a multiple case study and a grounded theory strategy were applied in an attempt to unravel and describe the social world of TES employees in South Africa. The conceptual framework adopted in this study may serve as a platform for further research into temporary employment service, for example, integrating it with the Expectancy-value theory of Feather, (1992) the sequential model of Soelberg (1967), and the Integrative Conceptual model of Van Hoye, Van Hooft and Lievens (2009) on job-seeking. Practically, HR practice should give fair exposure to workplace skills training, to facilitate TES employees avoiding entrapment in temporary, low wage jobs. It is advisable that HR practitioners should develop programmes to enable TES employees to benefit from the opportunities reserved for permanent staff members. iv Table of contents DECLARATION ....................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................................ i ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................................iii Table of contents ..................................................................................................................................... v List of figures ..........................................................................................................................................vii List of tables ...........................................................................................................................................vii ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................................................. viii DEFINITION OF CONCEPTS ................................................................................................................ ix SECTION A CONTEXTUALISING THE STUDY AND THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ............... 1 CHAPTER 1 .......................................................................................................................................... 2 CONTEXTUALISING THE STUDY .................................................................................................... 2 1.1 BACKGROUND ....................................................................................................................... 2 1.2 KEY DEFINITIONS .................................................................................................................. 5 1.3 CURRENT KNOWLEDGE VOIDS .......................................................................................... 6 1.4 THE RESEARCH PROBLEM .................................................................................................. 6 1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS....................................................................................................... 7 1.6 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY ............................................................................................... 8 1.7 PERSONAL INTEREST .......................................................................................................... 8 1.8 ANTICIPATED CONTRIBUTIONS .......................................................................................... 9 1.9 STRUCTURE OF THE THESIS .............................................................................................. 9 CHAPTER 2 ........................................................................................................................................ 12 RESEARCH APPROACH AND METHODOLOGY .......................................................................... 12 2.1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................