Thesis (M.Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2006

Thesis ( M.Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2011 / The provision of Employee Assistance Programme in a working environment such as a municipality is very crucial. In order to determine the effectiveness of the implementation of the programme to justify its existence to the outside world and to assess the impact of its fulfilment to its objectives, evaluation is therefore necessary. The aim of this research study was to ascertain the implementation of the EAP at the Makhado Municipality in Vhembe District with special focus on the employees’ awareness of the programme, its utilization and also the programme adequacy. A qualitative approach was used in this study. Forty two (42) employees of various ranks or level’s in the municipality were randomly selected to participate in the study, and they were from all the four main centres of the municipality i.e. Makhado, Waterval, Dzanani and Vuwani. Summary of the Main Findings A high percentage (81%) of the employees knew of the existence of an EAP within the municipality, and meetings appeared to be the main awareness strategy. − The attitudes of employees towards the EAP were positive, this state of affairs points to the usefulness of the EAP service. − The EAP provided by the Municipality was viewed as accessible by the majority of employees. − The utilization rate of the EAP in the Municipality was very low as only 17% of respondents indicated that they had utilized the service before. − The majority of referrals were conducted by supervisors while only 9.1% were self referral. The majority of respondents did not answer the question implying various reason/s and could also mean lack or poor knowledge and information about referrals within the programme. (iv Implementation of the EAP at Makhado Municipality in Limpopo Province − The majority of employees did not respond to the question on whether they were satisfied with the EAP within the municipality, and that could translate into low knowledge and information about the programme. − The majority of employees were generally happy with the current location of EAP in the municipality. − The majority of employees viewed EAP as confidential and the level of trust in the EAP staff was high. − The majority of employees were not aware of the EAP policy and never participated in its formulation. − The majority of employees felt that EAP services were useful, and this means that provision of proper information might encourage employees to use the service. − Most employees suggested that frequent dissemination of information to employees through meetings, workshops and other regular contact sessions could enhance the EAP in the municipality. Recommendations The following recommendations with regard to the employees’ familiarity with the EAP are important: o That more awareness sessions be conducted with all employees, especially those at regions unit so that adequate information is cascaded to all employees of the municipality. o The awareness sessions should be conducted at least quarterly involving all regions, and the EAP Advisory Committee should meet at least bi-monthly to discuss aspects to improve and enhance EAP services in the municipality. o It is also recommended that additional qualified EAP personnel, with at least minimum qualifications in Social Work and, or Social Psychology, or any relevant (v Implementation of the EAP at Makhado Municipality in Limpopo Province qualifications and experience in EAP be appointed to run the programme on full-time basis. o That evaluation of the programme implementation should be conducted using the participatory strategies such as suggestion boxes, arranging focus groups and bench-marking with other institutions. The recommendation to allow employees opportunities to submit suggestions, in-puts and give feedback regarding the programme will no doubt assist in the improvement and promotion of the programme. o The Makhado Municipality should utilize different marketing strategies as recommended by EAP literature, such as the following: i. The use of promotional material such as brochures, leaflets, and posters that are user-friendly and in languages understandable by all employees of the municipality. ii. Outreach programmes: The EAP unit needs to regularly visit all the regional offices of the municipality in order to intensify information sharing to employees about the EAP. These can also include decentralising EAP workshops to the periphery offices in order to reach the employees who are far away from the head office in Louis Trichardt. The above-mentioned could serve as effective strategies in promoting and maximising the visibility of the EAP, and may close the gap on information not reaching all employees in the municipality thereby increasing its penetration rate.

In the 1990s nationally representative and detailed household survey data became available for the first time in South Africa, opening up opportunities to examine some of the key movements in the labour market especially. This thesis investigates one of these: the continued and dramatic rise in female labour force participation that has occurred in post-apartheid South Africa over the period 1995 to 2001. The rise in women's participation, also referred to as the 'feminisation' of the labour market, is a phenomenon that has been observed and analysed in many countries around the world, and yet has remained largely undocumented in South Africa. The 'feminisation' that has been recorded in the international literature generally refers to the rise in women's share of the labour force coupled with a rise in women's share of employment. What is striking in the South African case, however, is that over the period under review here regular employment opportunities in the formal sector of the economy have been indisputably limited, and yet female labour force participation has continued to increase. The increase in participation has translated mainly into a rise in unemployment and in generally low-paying forms of self-employment in the informal sector. This raises the question why so many more women chose to enter the labour market over this period in spite of their dismal prospects, a question that is explored as far as possible in this study given the constraints imposed by the data available. This thesis is presented in three main parts. The first part consists of a review of the economic theory of female labour supply and a review of the international literature on the trends, causes and consequences associated with the rise in female labour force participation over time. The second and largest part of the thesis consists of an empirical analysis of the factors driving the rise in female labour force participation in South Africa. The broad trends in the labour force between 1995 and 2001 are documented, some of the supply-side correlates of labour force participation are explored descriptively, and then the determinants of the rise in female labour force participation in South Africa over this period are tested more thoroughly in a multivariate regression and decomposition analysis. The final part of the study turns to the question of what the rise in female labour force participation has 'bought' women in terms of access to employment and earnings for those women who did have work in the period under review. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2003.

This doctoral thesis essentially investigates what is currently done by South African municipalities with regard to the training and development of their personnel. The study was necessitated by the fact that personnel plays an important role in the viability of any local authority. Therefore, the quality of manpower should be above suspicion. Moreover, with the advent of the expected implications of the new constitutional dispensation it is imperative that attention shall be focused timeously on the training and development of the human resources available to local government and administration. The need for training and development also dominates the arena in view of the continued extention of government activities and the concomitant creation of new State institutions. Thus, the above reasoning serves as rationale for the background description of the right of existence of local authorities. The term, local authorities, is, therefore, viewed as a collective noun for all institutions engaged in governing and administering community life on the local level, be it municipalities, village boards, health committees or institutions for the peri-urban areas. A discussion of municipal administration is also given as it justifies a review of the location thereof within the spectrum of public administration, given its distinctive environment and character. Furthermore, an exposition of municipal personnel administration within the context of municipal administration is imperative should one wish to understand the delicate processes of provisioning, maintenance, utilisation and above all, training and development of scarce manpower resources. Coupled with the description of the components of municipal personnel administration, follows an explanation of the constituent parts of the activities, training and development. The study revealed that training is a process of which the groundwork is done by a related field, called education. Education starts at birth and continues ad infinitum. Education also provides the preparation-for-life foundation, whereby training continues as the preparation-for-work process. As a prerequisite for both processes to be successful, is an intellectual process, called learning. The will to learn then also prepares the individual with a willingness to develop at the hand of various ways and means. Thereafter the need for and the objectives of training within the institution is acknowledged and a description is given of how to identify and describe these needs and objectives in order to meet the common objective of local authorities, viz. the improvement of the general well-being of the citizenry. A responsibility rests on the individual municipalities to provide, through training and development programmes, the opportunity for municipal officials and employees on all levels, to develop. It is to this end that municipalities should endeavour to provide suitable training and development facilities and to utilise it to its fullest extent. Whether the facilities utilised, refers to on-the-job - or off-the-job training, the methods should be applied only after its relevant advantages and disadvantages have been carefully weighed and if it meets the requirements of the specific circumstances of the municipality. The study proves that in South Africa, there is not necessarily a shortage of available municipal manpower, but that a question-mark could be placed after the quality thereof in terms of training and development. It is, therefore, recommended that, in an endeavour to promote training and development activities, the following aspects, inter alia, deserve consideration: (a) the introduction at school level, of a course in environmental or public studies; (b) the establishment of a school of municipal government and administration in the Core City of each region specified in terms of the Regional Services Councils Act, 1985 (Act 109 of 1985); (c) that municipalities should devise a unique approach to training and development methods; (d) that training sessions should provide for the individual needs of the participants; (e) the publication of an annual report by the Local Training Board giving a detailed exposition of the nature and extent of training individually and collectively undertaken by leading South African municipalities; (f) the provision of specially designed and well-equipped technical training facilities; and (g) the establishment of resources centres or reading rooms to put periodicals, journals and relevant newspaper articles at the disposal of all the municipal employees. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1985.

Thesis (MTech(Human Resource Management)-- Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2011 / While the relationship between training and organisational commitment has to some extent been widely researched, most of the information available in literature is based on studies done in western countries. The aim of the study was to determine the relationship between the research variables of employee perceptions of training (measured by perceived availability of training, perceived supervisor support for training and perceived co-worker support for training) and organisational commitment (measured by affective and continuance commitment) an their impact on turnover intentions among employees of SMMEs within the hotel sector of the Cape Metropole area of the Western Cape Province of South Africa.A quantitative descriptive approach to research was adopted through the use of survey questionnaire to elicit relevant information from the respondents. In the absence of a sample frame (comprising only small hotels within the Cape Metropole area) and in order to meet the criteria laid down by the National Business Act for small business, non-probability judgemental sampling was deemed appropriate and was used to identify 10 SMME hotels to participate in this study. A total 127 respondents were drawn from across the 10 hotels. The research variables were measured using validated instruments from prior studies.

Thesis (MTech (Education))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2006 / As a recently appointed principal, I was confronted with many inherited problems. One ofthe most challenging problems was the management ofa group ofnon CS-educators employed at the school. They presented challenges such as excessive absenteeism, abuse of alcohol, undermining ofauthority, contestation ofpower, backbiting, laziness and a negative attitude towards authority. I knew they played an important role in terms ofthe service they provided to the school and that their daily interactions with educators, learners and parents impact directly on the effective running ofthe school. The difficulty I experienced in optimizing their potential to contribute to improving the general school climate has inspired me to undertake this qualitative research study The aim ofthe research was to explore school stakeholder perceptions ofnon-CS educator's contribution to the orderly and effective operation ofschool processes and to explore the perceptions ofnon CS-educators concerning the contribution they make to the orderly and effective operation ofschool processes. Data was obtained by means ofa focus group interview with six educators, an interview with the school principal and a participant observation with a group ofnon CS-educators. The findings revealed that non CS-educators do make a contribution to the orderly and effective operation ofschool processes and that there are much room for improvement with regards the contribution they make to the orderly and effective operation ofschool processes and the management ofthe group. The study recommends strategies for all the school stakeholders in order to optimize the potential ofnon CS-educators to contribute to improving the general school climate.

M.A. (Sociology) / Over the past few decades, South African institutions have responded to a prevailing human rights discourse and pressures from the state and labour unions to put a range of key policies in place. Amongst these, family-friendly policies have gained acceptance and prominence. This study explores and analyses the use of family-friendly policies in a major South African bank and establishes reasons why bank staff do and do not make use of such policies, as well as the ways in which the available policies cater for their particular needs. The research probes the experiences of both male and female employees within this South African bank, the challenges that they face and the agency that they display in balancing their work and family lives by making use of the family-friendly policies within the institution. In-depth qualitative interviews and a documentary study of existing policy are the main methods of the study. The sample was comprised of 18 participants with children of 12 years and younger, two childless participants and one union representative. The final analysis reveals that, in general, the participants were reasonably content with the policies that the bank provides and viewed them as adequate. However, they were of the view that more benefits should be forthcoming and that there should be greater consistency in the application of policies. They also raised the inability of staff to discuss personal issues affecting their work efforts with management. Weber suggested that employees in large-scale bureaucracies accept the legal authority of the institution – its rules, functions and hierarchies. The bank as a bureaucracy does indeed frame employees’ social action; however, in present-day South Africa, policy, unlike being what Weber envisaged, is humanising and enabling, rather than constraining, and bank employees are able to exercise their autonomy to make policy work in their favour.

M.Com. (Industrial Psychology) / Little is known in South Africa regarding the bullying behaviours faced by domestic workers at the hands of their employers. The objective of this study was thus to explore the nature of these bullying behaviours as experienced by South African domestic workers. The study was approached from a qualitative perspective where 10 participants were interviewed using unstructured interviews. The participants were South African from various parts of Gauteng, working for families from various demographics for at least three years. The interviews allowed for unbridled stories from the world of the domestic workers to emerge, thus consistent with my philosophical views and research strategy. It was found that all the domestic workers had experienced bullying by their employers and that all of these experiences were at least partly shared amongst them. Two categories (verbal and non-verbal) and eleven themes (belittlement, deception, wrongful accusations, lack of regard for wellbeing and basic worker needs, lack of regard for worker safety, abuse of power, racial discrimination, unsatisfactory remuneration, lack of regard for employment laws, threats to employment status and exclusion from decision making) were identified. The bullying was perpetrated by both sexes and all races. The study will add to the existing body of knowledge of bullying and assist policy makers in finding practical solutions to combating bullying.

The traditional employer-employee relationship came under an increased threat the past two decades with employers finding the option of utilising the services of Labour Brokers more attractive. Various reasons existed for this tendency amongst employers to opt for the use of Labour Brokers, some of these reasons being valid but mostly some reasons being born out of fear for the unknown labour law duties and obligations that were proposed to be placed on employers post 1994. In the absence of an action plan between the role players in the labour fraternity pathing the way traditional employer-employee relationships could be salvage, employers resorted to the appointment of Labour Brokers and Government on their part retaliated by considering either the total ban of Labour Brokers or the regulation of the profession to such an extent that same became largely unattractive and problematic. The non-addressing of problems and fears faced with by employers post 1994 resulted in an opportunity waisted to narrow the gap between employers and employees with the fight over work force power being the more important factor taken into consideration. This treatise will explore the options that faced the roll players post 1994 in the labour market, the reason for choices made and the effect same has had since on the labour market. The problematic amendments made to Section 198 of the Labour Relations Act in an attempt to iron out the wrinkles poor choices made by the stake holders over the regulations of Labour Brokers, will be discussed. The ripple effect the amendments to Section 198 of the Labour Relations Act had on other pieces of South African legislation will be considered and the uncertainty and confusion it has created discussed. Specific attention needs to be drawn to the intention of the legislature as to which party, the Labour Broker or employer, will be responsible for the ramifications of the wrong doings of an employee. Also, which party will be responsible to the employee to fulfil its labour rights as granted in the Constitution of South Africa. Unleashing reaction to the regulations of Temporary Employment Services does not seem to be a problem, the problem arises where the regulations proposed did not unleashed the desired reaction and roll players finding themselves frustrated and with having no alternative as to turn the Courts to solve the largely self-inflicted conundrum. The courts are left with the task of clarifying the legislature’s true intension in amending section 198 of the Labour Relations Act, which impact the writer with all due respect do not think the legislature even appreciated when the amendments were drafted. Currently, there is dividing views on the future of Labour Brokers per se in South Africa and the interpretation concerning Section 198 of the Labour Relations Act, as amended. The focus of this treatise is to highlight the different interpretations given to these amendments this far and highlight that if it is in fact the wish of stake holders in the Labour fraternity that Labour Brokers should continue to exist, clarification is needed by our Constitution Court on certain vital issues and as discussed in this treatise.

From Introduction: During the past three decades or more, the study of absenteeism in industry has been carried on in many different ways, by numerous investigators and in a wide range of industries. The purpose of such studies has varied; sometimes they have been stimulated by purely academic interest and have sought to investigate the relationship between absenteeism and various other measurable factors in the work situation such as age, race, sex, length of service and wage rates. Most studies, however, have been prompted by the urgent necessity to determine whether an absence problem existed within a specific factory, community or industry and to discover some effective means of dealing with it. Most studies have been empirical and pragmatic as has befitted their intentions. Inevitably, those who have conducted studies of the latter type have asked two questions (a) how do the absence rates emerging from this investigation compare with those from other studies and (b) are they 'normal' or 'abnormal'? In other words, does the data which has been gathered indicate the existence of an absence problem? The main purpose of this monograph is to demonstrate that the Gross Absence Rate is not an effective basis for the discovery of answers to either of these questions. It will seek, in other words, to demonstrate the truth of the following fundamental postulate: THE GROSS ABSENCE RATE IS NOT, IN ITSELF, A SUFFICIENT BASIS FOR THE COMPARISON OF THE ABSENCE BEHAVIOUR OF ONE GROUP OF WORKERS WITH THAT OF ANOTHER OR WITH A PRE-ESTABLISHED NORM, NOR IS IT AN ADEQUATE INDICATOR OF THE PRESENCE OR OTHERWISE OF AN ABSENCE PROBLEM AMONG ANY GIVEN GROUP OF WORKERS. Although this study will include some account of investigations into the relationship between absence rates and various socio-economic factors, it will do so primarily in order to seek support for the above postulate.