Browsing by Author "du Toit, Darcy"

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    Discrimination on an ‘arbitrary ground’ and the right of access to justice
    (Jute, 2021) du Toit, Darcy
    In Naidoo & others v Parliament of the Republic of SA the Labour Appeal Court interpreted ‘arbitrary ground’ in s 6(1) of the Employment Equity Act by rejecting a ‘broad’ interpretation (ie the grammatical meaning of the term) and defining it ‘narrowly’ to mean the same as an ‘unlisted’ ground of discrimination. Looking at the judgment through the lens of access to justice, the note observes that the judgment raises a number of questions. These include: (a) the purpose of the amendment to s 6(1) by which ‘arbitrary ground’ was added; (b) the relationship between the concepts of ‘arbitrary ground’ in s 6(1) and s 187(1)(f) of the Labour Relations Act; (c) the application of the principles of legal interpretation to ‘arbitrary ground’; (d) the implications and limits of a ‘broad’ interpretation; (e) the social dimension of the constitutional context; (f) whether discrimination on an ‘arbitrary ground’ is by definition invasive of human dignity; (g) whether a ‘narrow’ interpretation of ‘arbitrary ground’ involves reading an implicit limitation into s 6(1); and case law in which a ‘broad’ approach was adopted. The note seeks to address these questions.
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    Fair work in South Africa’s gig economy: A journey of engaged scholarship
    (Elsevier, 2023) du Toit, Darcy; Van Belle, Jean-Paul; Howson, Kelle; Graham, Mark
    Because of its relatively well-developed, highly urbanised economy and high penetration of mobile internet access, the platform economy took off quickly in South Africa, with international players vying for market share and local platforms pursuing more innovative approaches. Digital labour platforms have offered new earning opportunities to many in the country, but concerns have been raised about the quality of jobs created, and whether they meet standards of decent work. South Africa was one of the pilot countries for the Fairwork Project. This article describes the specific conditions which supported the take-off of location-based digital labour platforms in South Africa, explains the methodology used for pursuing the Fair work research, discusses ratings outcomes based on the empirical research and summarizes the action research component of the project—with particular attention paid to outcomes for workers. We also list some of the lessons that were learnt and give a critical reflection on the project in the hope of assisting other researchers investigating the fourth industrial revolution, the gig economy, and decent work standards, especially in the Global South.
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    The fairwork foundation: Strategies for improving platform work
    (Elsevier, 2020) Graham, Mark; Woodcock, Jamie; du Toit, Darcy
    s paper introduces the Fairwork Foundation, a research initiative that is also developing an interventionaroundthequalityofworkondigitallabourplatforms.Lackingtheabilitytocollectivelybargain,manyplatformworkershavelittleabilitytonegotiatewagesorworkingconditionswiththeiremployers.Asaresultofthisnew,digitally-managed market for work, many workers have jobs characterised by long and irregular hours, lowincome, and high stress. Fairwork's field research across India and South Africa finds challenges for workersacross a range of issues which form the basis for a set of decent work principles on: pay, conditions, contracts,management,andrepresentation.Theresultsofthefieldresearcharebeingusedtorankandcompareplatformsagainst these principles as a means to encourage decent, and discourage ‘un-decent’ platform work.
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    International regulation of platform labor: A proposal for action
    (Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society, 2021) Fredman, Sandra; du Toit, Darcy; Graham, Mark
    Platform-mediated work is a source of livelihood for millions of workers worldwide. However, because platforms typically classify workers as ‘independent contractors’, those workers are generally excluded from the scope of labor rights. This has a corrosive effect on working standards of platform workers, creating the need for an international regulatory framework to prevent a race to the bottom. To address this situation, the article proposes an outline for an International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention for the regulation of platform work going beyond the employee/independent contractor dichotomy. It identifies five core issues in the platform economy – low pay, poor working conditions, inaccessible and unreasonable contracts, unfair management, and a lack of representation – and demonstrates how existing ILO standards could be adapted to address these issues.
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    Protecting platform workers: options and challenges
    (Jute, 2022) du Toit, Darcy; Howson, Kelle
    The use of digital platforms as a means of organising work and creating new work opportunities (‘platform work’) is on the increase in developing as well as developed countries. The article starts from three widely-accepted premises: platform work typically falls beyond the scope of labour law because labour rights are generally limited to ‘employees’ whereas platforms typically classify their workers as ‘independent contractors’; in terms of international law, platforms workers enjoy the same basic rights as all other workers; and national legal regulation needs to be adapted in order to ensure protection of platform workers’ rights. In this context the article examines the obstacles to regulatory change and considers the use of rating systems as a means of exerting reputational pressure on platforms to acknowledge workers’ rights and implement fair working practices, using the Fairwork project and its interventions across four continents as an exemplar. It then turns to the need for legalregulation of platform work as a means of bringing about fair working practices where voluntary compliance fails. In particular, it considers broader definitions of ‘worker’ to identify all those deserving of legal protection in addition to ‘employees’, as well as the forms in which labour rights can meaningfully be extended to workers operating outside an employer’s workplace and managed via digital applications.
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    Workers, platforms and the state: the struggle over digital labour platform regulation
    (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2021) du Toit, Darcy; Englert, Sai; Graham, Mark
    This chapter discusses the arguments made by digital labour platforms - and their supporters - in favour of self-regulation. Against their claims that platform self-regulation is a preferable alternative to state intervention, for the shared benefit of shareholders, workers, and consumers, this chapter argues that in practice platforms have mobilised existing laws when they found them useful, while leveraging their economic power and popularity to undermine others. This process has led to the weakening of labour regulations, the deterioration of pay and conditions for digital labour platform workers, and to the reshaping of state and national laws to the advantage of platforms. This chapter points to emerging alternatives in the form of regulatory initiatives from below, led by platform workers themselves, and amplified by a constellation of supporters.