The Inter-Relationship between Administrative Law and Labour Law: Public Sector Employment Perspectives from South Africa

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 319-346
Author(s):  
Marius Olivier ◽  
Avinash Govindjee
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Administrative Law ◽  
Employment Relationship ◽  
Labour Law ◽  
The Public ◽  
Administrative Action ◽  
Public Sector Employment ◽  
Public Sector Employees ◽  
Legal Position

The legal position of public sector employees who challenge employment decisions taken by the state or organs of state in its/their capacity as employer in South Africa has long been problematic. Even though at least four judgments by the Constitutional Court of South Africa have considered whether employment-related decisions in the public sector domain do or could amount to administrative action and whether administrative law and/or labour law should be applicable for purposes of dispute resolution, legal uncertainty remains the order of the day due to a combination of factors. The authors assess whether (and to what extent) the rich South African administrative-law jurisprudence remains of importance in relation to the public employment relationship, bearing in mind the applicable legal considerations, including the inter-relatedness, interdependence and indivisibility of the range of applicable fundamental constitutional rights. Considering the debate in other jurisdictions on this issue, the authors develop a paradigm for situating different employment-related disputes as matters to be decided on labour and/or administrative-law principles in South Africa. This requires an appreciation, to the extent relevant, of the unique nature public sector employment relationships and a detailed investigation of the applicable legal sources and precise parameters of the cases already decided in the country. The position of employees deliberately excluded from the scope of labour legislation is analysed, for example, as is the legal position of high-ranking public sector employees. The outcome of the investigation is important for determining the legal principles to be applied in cases involving public sector employees in their employment relationship, and for purposes of determining the question of jurisdiction. Recent cases, for example where the courts have permitted the state, as employer, to review its own disciplinary decision (via a state-appointed chairperson of a disciplinary hearing) on the basis that this amounts to administrative action which is reviewable, are also examined in the light of the uncertainty regarding the precise nature and scope of the review.

scholarly journals Work as a central life interest for legal professionals

2005 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacques Genis ◽  
Taryn Wallis
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Law Firms ◽  
Work Centrality ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Legal Professionals ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Sector Employees ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
Two Sectors

Dubin’s theory of Central Life Interests (CLIs) was used to investigate whether work is a CLI for legal professionals in South Africa. The research also served as a comparative exploration between the public and private sectors based on their work centrality and work orientation. 59 employees from three public sector organisations and 27 employees from various private sector law firms completed questionnaires. Contrary to Dubin’s theory, results indicated that two-thirds of respondents did not have work as a CLI. Also, contrary to previous work on private and public sector employees, some interesting similarities emerged between the two sectors. Opsomming Dubin (1992) se teorie van Sentrale Lewensbelangstellings was gebruik om te ondersoek of werk ’n sentrale lewensbelangstelling is vir individue in die Suid-Afrikaanse regsprofessie. Die navorsing was ook ’n vergelykende ondersoek tussen die publieke en privaat sektore met betrekking tot hul werk sentraliteit en werk orientasie. 59 werknemers van drie publieke organisasies en 27 werknemers van verskeie privaat firmas het vraelyse beantwoord. Teenstellig met Dubin se teorie het resultate gewys dat vir twee-derdes van die deelnemers werk nie ’n sentrale lewensbelangstelling was nie. Daar was ook interessante resultate wat te voorskyn gekom het, wat teenstrydig was met vorige navorsing op werknemers in die privaat en publieke sektore.

scholarly journals Intrinsic Motivations of Public Sector Employees: Evidence for Germany

2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 343-366 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Dur ◽  
Robin Zoutenbier
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Private Sector ◽  
Work Experience ◽  
Panel Study ◽  
Questionnaire Data ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Sector Employment ◽  
Public Sector Employees ◽  
Intrinsic Motivations ◽  
The Difference

AbstractWe examine differences in altruism and laziness between public sector employees and private sector employees. Our theoretical model predicts that the likelihood of public sector employment increases with a worker’s altruism, and increases or decreases with a worker’s laziness depending on his altruism. Using questionnaire data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study, we find that public sector employees are significantly more altruistic and lazy than observationally equivalent private sector employees. A series of robustness checks show that these patterns are stronger among higher educated workers; that the sorting of altruistic people to the public sector takes place only within the caring industries; and that the difference in altruism is already present at the start of people’s career, while the difference in laziness is only present for employees with sufficiently long work experience.

Motivations of Federal Workers to Volunteer In Public Sector Special Events

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-46
Author(s):  
Keon Artis ◽  
Seung Hyun Lee
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Federal Government ◽  
Event Management ◽  
Theoretical Contribution ◽  
The Public ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Special Event ◽  
Special Events ◽  
Public Sector Employees ◽  
Government Workers

Volunteers are considered a core component of special events and they have proved to be an asset to the execution of special events. Although motivations of volunteers have received a great deal of attention from many organizations and individuals in the private sector, little research has been done on motivations of volunteers in the public sector, or within the federal government. Therefore, this article identified motivational factors that prompt federal government workers to volunteer at a government-related special event. A survey was used to gather data from a volunteer sample of 263 individuals who had volunteered for public sector special events in recent years. Exploratory factor analysis and t test were employed to establish motivations that stimulate public sector employees to volunteer for special events and further determine the differences in motivation between females and males. The results showed that government workers mostly volunteer for purposive motive and external motive. In addition, gender played significant roles on egotistic and purposive motives. Thus, this research provides a unique theoretical contribution to research in event management by advancing our understanding of the process by which factors associated with motivation can lead to federal government workers volunteering at a government-related special event; subsequently, impacting how event planners and organizers of public sector special events market to and recruit volunteers.

Een nieuw en flexibel personeelsbeleid in de lokale besturen in Vlaanderen ?

Res Publica ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-97
Author(s):  
Trui Steen
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Personnel Management ◽  
Civil Service ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Employment Policy ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Sector Employment ◽  
Personnel Policies

Personnel management in localgovernment in Flanders bas undergone some major reforms during recent years. We examine the purposes and the extent of these reforms. Also, the new personnel management in Flemish local government is evaluated in terms of flexibility. The Flemish civil service can be considered as an Internal Labour Market. The rigidity which characterises the Internal Labour Market in local government in Flanders is shown by the fact that local government lacks discretion in elaborating the personnel statute, which still constitutes the basis of personnel management. However, the thesis that the public sector employment policy is too rigid has to be nuanced. The civil service is familiar with irregular forms ofemployment. Infact, in Flemish local government only half of all personnel are employed according to a statute.Despite some constraints on the development of more flexible personnel policies, it is still possible to find opportunities which provide hope for the development of new and modern personnel management strategies in local government.

Leadership of change in South Africa public sector turnarounds

2018 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mampe Kumalo ◽  
Caren Brenda Scheepers
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Current Literature ◽  
Organisational Change ◽  
Director General ◽  
Change Processes ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Financial Consequences

PurposeOrganisational decline has far-reaching, negative emotional and financial consequences for staff and customers, generating academic and practitioner interest in turnaround change processes. Despite numerous studies to identify the stages during turnarounds, the findings have been inconclusive. The purpose of this paper is to address the gap by defining these stages, or episodes. The characteristics of leaders affect the outcome of organisational change towards turnarounds. This paper focusses, therefore, on the leadership requirements during specific episodes, from the initial crisis to the full recovery phases.Design/methodology/approachA total of 11 semi-structured interviews were conducted with executives from the public sector in South Africa who went through or were going through turnaround change processes and 3 with experts consulting to these organisations.FindingsContrary to current literature in organisational change, this study found that, in these turnaround situations, leadership in the form of either an individual CEO or director general was preferable to shared leadership or leadership distributed throughout the organisation. This study found four critical episodes that occurred during all the public service turnarounds explored, and established that key leadership requirements differ across these episodes. The study shows how these requirements relate to the current literature on transactional, transformational and authentic leadership.Practical implicationsThe findings on the leadership requirements ultimately inform the selection and development of leaders tasked with high-risk turnaround change processes.Originality/valueFour episodes with corresponding leadership requirements were established in the particular context of public sector turnaround change processes.

Ethical climate, corporate social responsibility and organizational performance: evidence from the UAE public sector

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 737-752 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sherine Farouk ◽  
Fauzia Jabeen
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Organizational Performance ◽  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Ethical Climate ◽  
Codes Of Ethics ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Sector Employees ◽  
Corporate Social

PurposeResearch about ethical governance and corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the United Arab Emirates is still in its infancy. This study aims to explore the public sector employee’s perception toward ethical climate, codes of ethics and CSR and its impact on organizational performance. This research sheds light on the link between formalized ethical procedures and employee responses including CSR, organizational engagement and organizational performance.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 426 middle-level public sector employees in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, using structural equation modeling to test the proposed hypotheses.FindingsThe findings of this study suggest that an ethical climate is an important organizational component, and that the incorporation of effective codes of ethics and CSR initiatives is desired. Perceptions of public sector employees are positively influenced by the organization’s ethical climate and CSR activities, which in turn affect organizational performance.Research limitations/implicationsThe study provides managerial insights for improving the ethical climate and CSR within the public sector context in the United Arab Emirates.Practical implicationsThe study offers implications for public sector employers and points out that public sector employers should formulate policies to boost the ethics and CSR environment at workplace to attain competitive advantage.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to the literature by being one of the first to study organizational ethical climate and CSR within a Middle Eastern public sector context and offers implications for theory and practice.

MPA Graduates and the Dilemma of Job Satisfaction: Does Crossing the Sector Line Make a Difference

1991 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 449-455 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barrie E. Blunt ◽  
Kris Anne Spring
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Private Sector ◽  
Work Satisfaction ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Non Profit ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Sector Employment ◽  
State Regional

This study examines levels of job satisfaction for MPA graduates employed in the public, private, and non-profit sectors. Findings are based on a survey and indicate that MPA graduates derive greater satisfaction with pay and promotion opportunities in the private sector than in the public or non-profit sectors. No significant differences were noted between the sectors with regard to work satisfaction or satisfaction with supervisor or co-workers. Further, no differences in levels of satisfaction were noted between four categories of public sector employment; federal, state, regional, or local.

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