Regulation and Flexibility

The first decade of independence in Namibia was
characterised by both a strengthening of the legal
and social safety net covering permanent, full-time
employment and a proliferation of casual and
temporary employment relationships at the margins of
this regulatory framework. These shifts in labour
regulation have created opportunities for
advancement by groups of more skilled and organised
employees, whereas less skilled and unorganised
groups have generally experienced a deterioration of
working conditions and a decline in employment and
job security. In the lexicon of labour market
policy, a bifurcated workforce is the outcome
of flexibility measures designed to dismantle
the rigidities associated with statutory and
collective regulation. In this study, non-standard
employment is viewed as a particular social and
spatio-temporal ''fix'' for the various regulatory
dilemmas generated by the standard employment
relationship. This conception underscores the fact
that a national system of labour regulation
decisively shapes the conditions under which
employers are able to casualise or externalise a
part of their workforce.

Autorentext

Gilton Klerck is a senior lecturer in Industrial and Economic Sociology at Rhodes University, South Africa. He has published widely on industrial relations, workplace restructuring and labour markets. Current research interests include the impact of the minimum wage in South Africa and trade union responses to casualisation.

Klappentext

The first decade of independence in Namibia was characterised by both a strengthening of the legal and social safety net covering permanent, full-time employment and a proliferation of casual and temporary employment relationships at the margins of this regulatory framework. These shifts in labour regulation have created opportunities for advancement by groups of more skilled and organised employees, whereas less skilled and unorganised groups have generally experienced a deterioration of working conditions and a decline in employment and job security. In the lexicon of labour market policy, a bifurcated workforce is the outcome of 'flexibility' measures designed to dismantle the 'rigidities' associated with statutory and collective regulation. In this study, non-standard employment is viewed as a particular social and spatio-temporal 'fix' for the various regulatory dilemmas generated by the standard employment relationship. This conception underscores the fact that a national system of labour regulation decisively shapes the conditions under which employers are able to casualise or externalise a part of their workforce.