Labour brokering

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Labour brokering is a South African outsourcing method, also known in Namibia as labour hire. A company contracts a labour broker to provide casual workers. The broker handles almost everything about the workers—interviews, recruitment, HR, payroll, transport, and more. This is different from recruitment agencies, which only find candidates. So, instead of the company hiring the worker directly, it hires a broker who hires the worker.

In other places this is called labour hire, permatemp, or an employment agency.

By law in South Africa (as of 1 March 2009), a labour broker is a person who provides clients with workers for pay or arranges for workers to perform services for which they are paid. In Namibia, labour hire was banned in 2008.

COSATU, South Africa’s largest trade union federation, wants to abolish labour brokering. They argue it increases casualisation of work and leaves workers with lower pay and less job security, violating workers’ rights. They say about 30% of the SA workforce is casualised. COSATU held a national strike on 7 March 2012 against labour brokering and the Gauteng e-toll system, drawing tens of thousands of workers.

The ruling ANC has defended labour brokering, with Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant saying that it “is here to stay.”