Browsing by Author "Heppell, Erik"
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- ItemCompliance with minimum wages : a South African legal perspective(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2021-03) Heppell, Erik; Smit, Nicola; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Law. Dept. of Public Law.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Globalisation has increased competition and resulted in various advancements of human life. However, it also has negative consequences, such as stagnating lower spectrum wages that occur despite increased labour productivity. Stagnating lower labour market wages that coincide with progressive top hierarchy wages result in excessive income inequality that presents detrimental consequences on various microeconomic and macroeconomic levels. Wages are the most common earnings of people and is therefore used within a regulatory framework to establish a minimum wage to address excessive income inequality. The utilisation of minimum wage is especially relevant in the South African context with its unequal labour market – one of the worst in the world – that undoubtedly played a role in introducing the SANMW. A threat to reaching the objectives of the SANMW and other minimum wage policies in other nations is the lack of compliance with minimum wage (that may be) exacerbated by non-compliance in developing countries. Establishing a legal minimum wage is important, but equally important is compliance/obedience to it. Without compliance, legal provisions may arguably only be of academic value and limited to paper. This thesis considers the compliance with minimum wage from a legislative viewpoint by deliberating three research questions. Firstly, how is minimum wage compliance pursued and achieved through the South African legal framework by considering three elements: being the coverage of minimum wage, the determination of minimum wage, and the legal enforcement of minimum wage and the sanctions/remedies for non-compliance. Secondly, what weaknesses in legal regulation can be identified, and based thereon, what recommendations can be made for more effective regulation and implementation of a minimum wage in South Africa? Thirdly, what lessons good and bad can be learned from the comparative foreign national legal minimum wage compliance frameworks of Australia and the United Kingdom? In answering the research questions, the concept of inequality is further examined, particularly in the South African context, before considering statutory/regulatory measures intended to address inequality in the labour market. The international legislative minimum wage compliance framework is established as a benchmark before considering the South African minimum wage compliance framework. Possible weaknesses are identified, followed by applicable recommendations. The legal minimum wage compliance frameworks of Australia and the United Kingdom are analysed. These nations arguably present respectable well-established minimum wage compliance frameworks that may act as a point of reference to other nations. Based on this comparative analysis, best and worst practices of the foreign jurisdictions are established before providing an effective legal minimum wage compliance framework.