​​​​​Within three months, the University of Johannesburg (UJ) has accelerated the insourcing of outsourced workers, with improved working conditions and benefits extended to their children.

An outsourced worker and eight outsourced workers’ children will be joining more than 49 500 students who have successfully enrolled for 2016 studies at the University. The outsourced worker is embarking on a B Tech Transport programme and the outsourced workers’ children are pursuing both degree and diploma programmes in Public Management and Governance; Small Business Management; Accounting and Law amongst others.

Outsourced workers and their children who qualify for further studies are exempted from the payment of tuition fees, as is the case with the University’s current employees.

Heading the University’s Insourcing Task Team, Ms Mpho Letlape, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Strategic Services at UJ, says that much work on the insourcing of the workers has been undertaken since the establishment of the inclusive Task Team in November 2015. “The University unequivocally supports the quest to provide decent work and improved working conditions. An insourcing plan was developed and it was agreed that cleaning, protection and gardening services that are presently outsourced through external service providers, will be insourced according to the agreed insourcing plan,” says Ms Letlape.

The University will not renew any of the outsourced service contracts. The workers currently performing these services will be transferred through an agreed process to the University. In this process no new conditions relating to education level for insourcing will be introduced, Ms Letlape stresses.

The insourcing of all concerned workers will be completed no later than 30 June 2017.

In the interim, until the insourcing is fully completed, cleaning workers are receiving an extra gratia payment of R1000.00 per month, effective from the end of January 2016.

“The outsourced workers are participating, through their worker representatives and labour union, in the University’s Insourcing Task Team’s Technical Working Group. All this result in an improvement of the standard of living conditions of the workers,” says Ms Letlape.