Lerato Mphaka will be representing Lesotho at the African Labour Law Society in Mauritius next week Wednesday. She is proud that she will be discussing the Lesotho labour market and the future world of work debate in the context of digital transformation and hybrid work. We find more on her role at the conference.
Lerato, give us a brief background on your work and labour law?
I have been working in corporate Lesotho for 13 years, in varied roles, at different levels of organizational leadership. For the last 2 years, I have been in a senior leadership position, tasked with both strategy delivery, and people management for a leading insurer in Lesotho. When this conference request for papers arrived, I reflected on the one incident in recent history that has challenged labour law and that was the Global health crisis of 2020. None of us expected the impact of COVID19; not only on human life as we knew it, but on work. The biggest changes to our world of work, have undoubtedly come through automation, and enabling remote working. Which brought about unintended consequences and implications on our working contracts.
What are the main points you will be debating on?
Two key issues that continue to affect working contracts, are the “always on” culture, created by access to business systems 24 hours a day and the perceived lack of surveillance by management on whether employees do work their contractual hours. These are the case studies and reflection points I will be presenting to the continental forum.
Always on culture is not catered for in the labour code in Lesotho, what is your take on this?
Broadly speaking, before the enablement of remote working, knocking off at 5 pm meant knocking off. These days, because we can work anywhere and at any time, knocking off seems not to exist. This has an invariable impact on contracts because in a remote setting, how does working from your own house, at 11 pm constitute overtime allowance? How would you claim it? How would you justify continuously working at that time? Who would verify the hours and what does company policy say about continued work patterns outside of a normal “8-5”?
Managing people through surveillance in their homes remains an issue, how can this be tackled?
The contention between workers and employers around proving that the former is working, is a long standing one in labour relations. A section of information systems literature further argues the pros and cons of surveilling employees on work premises to ensure that value is created. But do the rules still apply when the location of work is now in our own homes? Do tracking software and systems that show times one is on or offline not border on invasion of privacy in our homes that are now our workplaces?
In conclusion, what do you consider as gaps in the labour law?
When I submitted this abstract, the idea was to glean learnings from other countries on what I consider gaps. These gaps continue to be cemented as the world globalizes, as businesses continue to become operationally efficient through automation, and as we try to recreate a balance for ourselves through hybrid work. The conference aims to unpack these and other issues, and as always, I am excited to once again participate in conversations where technology and humanity overlap.
Mphaka to represent Lesotho at the African labour law society conference
Lerato Mphaka will be representing Lesotho at the African Labour Law Society in Mauritius next week Wednesday. She is proud that she will be discussing the Lesotho labour market and the future world of work debate in the context of digital transformation and hybrid work. We find more on her role at the conference.
Lerato, give us a brief background on your work and labour law?
I have been working in corporate Lesotho for 13 years, in varied roles, at different levels of organizational leadership. For the last 2 years, I have been in a senior leadership position, tasked with both strategy delivery, and people management for a leading insurer in Lesotho. When this conference request for papers arrived, I reflected on the one incident in recent history that has challenged labour law and that was the Global health crisis of 2020. None of us expected the impact of COVID19; not only on human life as we knew it, but on work. The biggest changes to our world of work, have undoubtedly come through automation, and enabling remote working. Which brought about unintended consequences and implications on our working contracts.
What are the main points you will be debating on?
Two key issues that continue to affect working contracts, are the “always on” culture, created by access to business systems 24 hours a day and the perceived lack of surveillance by management on whether employees do work their contractual hours. These are the case studies and reflection points I will be presenting to the continental forum.
Always on culture is not catered for in the labour code in Lesotho, what is your take on this?
Broadly speaking, before the enablement of remote working, knocking off at 5 pm meant knocking off. These days, because we can work anywhere and at any time, knocking off seems not to exist. This has an invariable impact on contracts because in a remote setting, how does working from your own house, at 11 pm constitute overtime allowance? How would you claim it? How would you justify continuously working at that time? Who would verify the hours and what does company policy say about continued work patterns outside of a normal “8-5”?
Managing people through surveillance in their homes remains an issue, how can this be tackled?
The contention between workers and employers around proving that the former is working, is a long standing one in labour relations. A section of information systems literature further argues the pros and cons of surveilling employees on work premises to ensure that value is created. But do the rules still apply when the location of work is now in our own homes? Do tracking software and systems that show times one is on or offline not border on invasion of privacy in our homes that are now our workplaces?
In conclusion, what do you consider as gaps in the labour law?
When I submitted this abstract, the idea was to glean learnings from other countries on what I consider gaps. These gaps continue to be cemented as the world globalizes, as businesses continue to become operationally efficient through automation, and as we try to recreate a balance for ourselves through hybrid work. The conference aims to unpack these and other issues, and as always, I am excited to once again participate in conversations where technology and humanity overlap.