Bosa’s payslip Bill is good but could be so much more

Sometimes it’s worth hearing Mmusi Maimane out. The Bill presented by his party, Bosa, to prevent prospective employers from requesting a candidate’s latest payslip is incredibly helpful.

It’s somewhat odd then that in the same Bill, it wants all jobs to state the salary. But that’s understandable too – there will be instances of internal hires, raises, headhunting and promotions that can facilitate some secrecy.

What’s strange is that Bosa stops at that. If you’re asking people what makes getting a job so difficult, I don’t think its first answer will be because they had to offer a salary slip from a previous job. Sure, it isn’t great when you get pinned to a couple of percent above your previous salary. It still doesn’t solve the issue of actually finding a job.

It’s great for those who have access to the job market and will certainly balance the scales a lot more. It does, however, feel like doing the rain dance and hoping the seeds are already in the ground.

Like so many things in South Africa, the push to do awesome things comes before getting the basics right.

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Had Bosa suggested a central database where all jobs would have to be listed, even if they were also listed elsewhere, we may have a more succinct set of legislative proposals on our hands. Wouldn’t it make sense that a country with some of the most legally intricate employment laws takes one more small step in centralising the jobs it has on offer?

If nothing else, it would provide exceptional data and offer a valuable snapshot of the human resources required by a country.

We wouldn’t even need a new department for it. We could have the department of labour actually run it. I’m sure they’d love another reason to feel like they have some purpose.

It is easy – and quite obnoxious – to look at somebody who is effecting positive change and tell them that they’re doing it wrong or could be doing more. But if they’re going to pop up on the scene once a year, it’s not too much to expect them to reach for some higher, more nutritious fruit.

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Anybody who’s been in the job market knows how awful wading through papers, the internet and all the fake text offers can be. Lately, it’s also become pretty dangerous and Bosa is right to try to balance the scales as desperation soars.

Is it doing as much as it can with this bill? I suspect it thinks it is. Perhaps it doesn’t see the need for a centralised jobs portal. Perhaps it doesn’t agree with the idea. Maybe it’s phase two in its plan when it pops back into attention in 2028.

You’d think that a party that wants to build one South Africa would aim to do something that affects mass South Africa, even if it doesn’t focus on it.

I’m afraid that compelling employers to list salaries in offers and not demand payslips only helps those who already have a foot in the door. It does very little to make jobs more available and accessible.

Labour lawyers haven’t had a reason to bulk mail their clients on big changes in the law since equal pay for equal work was introduced a decade ago. They’d be more excited now than the compliance experts were when Popi came about.

It just doesn’t seem to warrant the song and dance made about it. Perhaps this should be more of a jingle until we figure out how to make more jobs.  

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