Klerck, G: Regulation and Flexibility

The first decade of independence in Namibia was characterised by both a strengthening of the legal and social safety net covering permanent, full-time employment and a proliferation of casual and temporary employment relationships at the margins of this regulatory framework. These shifts in labour regulation have created opportunities for advancement by groups of more skilled and organised employees, whereas less skilled and unorganised groups have generally experienced a deterioration of working conditions and a decline in employment and job security. In the lexicon of labour market policy, a bifurcated workforce is the outcome of 'flexibility' measures designed to dismantle the 'rigidities' associated with statutory and collective regulation. In this study, non-standard employment is viewed as a particular social and spatio-temporal 'fix' for the various regulatory dilemmas generated by the standard employment relationship. This conception underscores the fact that a national system of labour regulation decisively shapes the conditions under which employers are able to casualise or externalise a part of their workforce.