No abstract available / Jurisprudence / LL.M.

Thesis (LLD )--Stellenbosch University, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The importance of privacy lies in the fact that it represents the very idea of human dignity or the preservation of the ‘inner sanctum’. Not surprisingly, however, operational concerns of employers and technological developments combine continuously to challenge the preservation of privacy in the workplace. Employees the world over are exposed to numerous privacy invasive measures, including drug testing, psychological testing, polygraph testing, genetic testing, psychological testing, electronic monitoring and background checks. Hence, the issue at the heart of this dissertation is to determine to what extent privacy is protected in the South African workplace given advancements in technology and the implications (if any) for the right to privacy as such. A secondary aim of the dissertation is to attempt to provide a realistic balance between the privacy concerns of employees and the operational needs of employers in this technological age. As such the main focus of dissertation falls within the sphere of employment law. In order to provide an answer to the research issue discussed above, the dissertation addresses five ancillary or interrelated issues. First, the broad historical development of the legal protection of privacy is traced and examined. Second, a workable definition of privacy is identified with reference to academic debate and comparative legislative and judicial developments. Third, those policies and practices, which would typically threaten privacy in the employment sphere are identified and briefly discussed. Fourth, a detailed evaluation of the tension between privacy and a number of selected policies and practices in selected countries is provided. More specifically, the dissertation considers how these policies and practices challenge privacy, the rationale for their existence and, if applicable, how these policies and practices – if necessary through appropriate regulation – may be accommodated while simultaneously accommodating both privacy and the legitimate concerns of employers. The selection of these practices and policies is guided by two considerations. At the first level the emphasis is on those challenges to privacy, which can be traced back to technological developments and which, as such, foster new and unique demands to the accommodation of privacy in the workplace. The secondary emphasis is on those policies, which are representative of the fundamental challenges created by new technologies to privacy. To effectively address the above issues the dissertation uses the traditional legal methodology associated with comparative legal research, which includes a literature review of applicable law and legal frame work and a review of relevant case law and a comparative study of selected foreign jurisdictions. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Geen opsomming / Fulbright Foundation / Stellenbosch University / Mellon Foundation / NFR

This research set out to ascertain whether the employers of domestic workers within the Msunduzi Area do comply with the requirements of Sectoral Determination 7: Domestic Worker Sector. For domestic workers who were exploited during the apartheid era, this determination was perceived as a mechanism that would liberate them (Department of Labour, 2005, p.7). Trade unions use collective bargaining as a tool to fight for employee rights. Domestic workers are unionised, but their trade unions are not as powerful as their counterparts in the private sector (Department of Labour, 2005, p.7). According to Huber (2001, p.20), one of the reasons domestic workers were excluded from most labour laws was the belief that it would be difficult to check whether or not each individual employer complied with the laws. This problem still exists and needs to be solved. Government laws were meant to protect vulnerable workers from exploitation (mainly farm and domestic workers), but what is actually happening is that, rather than protecting employees from exploitation, they serve as corrective action. They are only implemented when there is a case between an employee and the employer. The government has a responsibility to protect vulnerable employees such as domestic and farm workers. The mechanism instituted by the government to protect domestic workers was through the promulgation of Sectoral Determination 7: Domestic Service Sector, which lays down minimum working conditions for domestic workers (Department of Labour, 2005, p.9). The main aim was to alleviate exploitation of domestic workers by the employers due to the power imbalance between these two parties (Department of Labour, 2005, p.9). This study compares what the employer offers to an employee in terms of wages, working hours, meal intervals and leave. From the observation of the research, little research has been done on the compliance or non-compliance with Sectoral Determination 7: Domestic Service Sector, within the Msunduzi Region. The outcome of the findings from this research were that the minimum salary for those employees who work more than five days are R727,60 instead of R861,90 and for those domestic workers who work for five days a week it is an average of R528,93 instead of R567, 79. The results indicated that many of the standards set down by the government are clearly not being met by the employers of domestic workers, for example minimum wages are not being paid and maximum hours are being exceeded. The determination stipulated that the maximum hours that should be worked a week is 45 hours and a maximum of nine hours per day; this was not in line with the standards, seeing that the average amount of time worked per week by respondents was 46.9 hours and 9.3 hours per day. As far as meals are concerned Sectoral Determination 7: Domestic Worker Sector, indicated that the standard should be an hour meal interval for every five hours worked. Respondents from this study disagreed that they were given an hour-long lunch time and reflected that the average time taken for meals was only 30 minutes. Finally, domestic workers need to have annual leave of 21 consecutive days (Department of Labour, 2005, p.9). This standard was not being met, as the average number of days being given for annual leave is 16.5 days. Maternity leave should be given as four consecutive months for domestic workers. It was found that 89,3% of domestic workers were given maternity leave of less than the stipulated four consecutive months. Domestic workers should be given five days' leave for family responsibility (Department of Labour, 2005, p.9). The respondents indicated that this was not adhered to, as the average number of days being given to the domestic workers for family responsibility was 1.4 days. Only 13,8% of domestic workers were granted five days' family responsibility leave and approximately 67,6% received less than five days for family responsibility leave. The study recommended that there should be some kind of government policy of doing consistent spot checks in different areas in the Msunduzi Area and possibly the rest of the country. This will require the Department of Labour to increase its manpower. More labour inspectors will be needed to ensure that this whole area is sufficiently monitored. The study revealed that union officials need to devise means and ways of coming into contact with domestic workers. Employers were expected to have a copy of Sectoral Determination 7: Domestic Service Sector available, within easy access of domestic workers. / Thesis (M.B.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

No abstract available / Jurisprudence / LL.M.

A dissertation submitted to the Department of Industrial Psychology, at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Masters of Arts, by Coursework and Research Report, 2000 / The current research report examines the relationship between personality variables and the perceptions of distributive, procedural and interpersonal justice. The study was performed with 70 employees from a company that supplies a financial service to the man on the street and companies with regard to all movable assets. The results indicated that certain aspects of the personality as defined by Jung do impact on an individual's Justice Perceptions. However, the sample size was too small to draw any conclusive relationships. The theoretical and practical implications of this are discussed along with limitations of the current research and directions for future research have been considered. / AC2017

LL.M. (Commercial law) / This dissertation seeks to explore the fundamental differences between the rights of employees in terms of windiqg-up procedures and that of business rescue proceedings. I will be specifically looking at each procedure, winding-up and business rescue proceedings, and the effect that each of these procedures have on the rights of employees. In terms of the analysis of the procedures, I will be looking at the history of both insolvency law and labour law, as well as a look at the old Companies Act of 1973 and specifically at judicial management. By looking at the history we can gain an outlook on the problems we encountered then and how they can be improved today. I will then move on to look specifically at the specific proceedings of winding-up in Chapter 14 of the old 1973 Act and Chapter 6 of the new 2008 for the provisions on business rescue. Through analysing the proceedings I will also look at the legal position in other jurisdictions on the specific matter into account. Specifically I will look to the UK and Australia. Additionally, I will be looking at the International Labour Organisations position on employees' rights in terms of insolvency law. The specific rights of employees that I will be considering are employees rights to commence proceedings, their right to be informed, their right to be consulted, the effect on their employment contracts, retrenchments, claims which they may have against the company as well as the specific rights of employees in the case of a transfer of the business. In analysing all of the above aspects, I will come to conclude from my findings that the rights afforded to employees under business rescue and Chapter 6 of the 2008 Act are extremely beneficial to the employees and are so extensive that they cover almost all rights of employees. In comparison with the rights afforded to employees' in terms of winding-up procedures under Chapter 14 of the 1973 Act these rights are stiII beneficial to employees but they are not as extensive. Both procedures afford employees a significant amount of protection.

This study focuses on the right to privacy in the workplace, specifically employees' expectations of electronic privacy where personal information is processed. The main aim of this dissertation is to establish whether, given advantages in technology, South African laws offers adequate protection for employees when their electronic information is being processed. The study analyses South African law as it relates to the privacy of employees during the processing of their personal information in the workplace.This is examined within the parameters of the constitutional and legislative framework with due regard to the common-law right to privacy. The legal issues are examined from a South African context and is compared with data protection laws and regulations of the United Kingdom. It also offers recommendations based on experience gained in the United Kingdom. / Private Law / LL. M.

Whenever legal disciplines overlap interesting scenarios occur and differences in opinions create intellectual tension. One such interesting scenario occurs when employees’ rights are affected during a company’s liquidation or business rescue. The employees of a company are normally the last persons to find out that a company is struggling financially. They are also the only stakeholders who are in no position to negotiate their risk should the company be liquidated. It is therefore necessary to evaluate the rights given to employees during a company’s liquidation and business rescue. The fundamental ideologies of company law, insolvency law and labour law are challenged and examined to attempt a harmonizing result that respects the core of each discipline. It is crucial to determine whether an appropriate balance is struck between the interests of all the stakeholders of the company during these procedures. The aim of this thesis is to evaluate whether South Africa manages to strike this balance. If employee rights are protected whilst a company is restructured back to solvency and success, this balance will be struck. An evaluation will also be made whether employees are always better protected during business rescue than in liquidation. The study analyses employee rights in a company’s liquidation and during a company’s restructuring process. The comparative study of employee rights in liquidation and rescue is done with the jurisdictions of Australia and England – countries with similar procedures. Important conclusions show that South Africa protects employee rights during business rescue procedures the best. An appropriate balance is indeed struck between the interests of all stakeholders of a company during business rescue procedures and employees are most of the time better off after a restructuring than in a liquidation. Should the recommendations for law reform be implemented in our legislation, South Africa will overcome the few obstacles currently in its way to be seen as a world leader where employee rights are concerned in liquidation proceedings as well as business rescue. / Mercantile Law / LL. D.

People living with HIV/AIDS have the right to be employed as long as they are physically fit to do the work. The unfortunate situation now is that in many South African workplaces employees who disclose their HIV/AIDS status or who are suspected of living with the disease face backlashes from fellow employees and sometimes even from employers. No one should be discriminated against or be prevented from being employed or dismissed from employment purely on the basis of having HIV or AIDS. Any form of discrimination against employees living with HIV/AIDS constitutes a violation of their constitutional rights to among others human dignity, equality and fair labour practices. Discrimination may take the form of pre-employment HIV testing or a dismissal due to HIV positive status. This research looks at the protection given to employees living with HIV/AIDS in the South African workplaces and whether the protection is adequate or not. / Mercantile Law / LL. M.

The study aim to investigate perceptions of military personnel with regard to HIV/AIDS in the SANDF in some military Units of Bloemfontein. The military personnel includes all males and females whose ages range between 19 - 47 years, were included in the sample. The approach utilised were both qualitative and quantitative. The data collection technique were: Closed and open-ended questionnaires were distributed to 548 respondents. ~ Participant observation. ~ Review of documents. • Unstructured observations. .. Unstructured interviews. This different data collection techniques to gather valid and reliable information with regard to HN/AJDS in the SANDF were triangulated. The findings revealed poor perception with regard to HIV/AIDS in the workplace, health education, lack of privacy, and discrimination on the benefit of HIV/AIDS. The recommendations of this project deals with aspects which include HIV/AIDS education, inclusion of HIV/AIDS in all military courses, distribution of policy on HIVIAIDS to all military personnel, and involvement in HIV/AIDS awareness. / Health Studies / M. Cur. (Health Studies)