SDG8 promotes sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all. The University of Pretoria contributes to tackling SDG8. It supports tourism, an important pillar of the South African economy, and entrepreneurship, promoting decent job creation, creativity, and innovation (entrepreneurship at UP is developed in the context of SDG 9). UP protects labour rights and promotes safe and secure working environments for all its employees.
UP Remuneration Policy outlines the principles of job evaluation for all staff as a basis for fair pay, benchmarking within the labour market, and positioning remuneration at the 60th and 50th percentiles for academic and support staff respectively. The benchmarking pools used and the positioning are all far in excess of national “living” and “minimum” wages. Relationships between the University and Organised Labour are formalised and well established. Labour rights are entrenched within the University of Pretoria Bargaining Forum Constitution, and within existing Recognition Agreements. The University is committed to, and actively works to eradicate all forms of discrimination in the workplace. This is addressed through the Institutional Anti-discrimination Policy and the Employment Equity Plan which is part of the 5-year planning cycle. The Anti-discrimination policy promotes the achievement of procedural and substantive equality to prevent unfair discrimination, hate speech, harassment and violence actions being taken by University of Pretoria (UP) staff members, students and third parties (to the extent provided for in the Operations Manual); and to provide support and remedies where they occur. Guaranteeing equivalent rights of third party workers is embedded into policies such as the Occupational Health and Safety Policy. The Institutional Remuneration Policy subscribes to and is anchored on a philosophy of fair and equitable remuneration, and equal pay for work of equal value. A commitment to internal remuneration parity is made, along with the expectation for monitoring and measurement in the event of remuneration differentiation. This is applicable to gender pay equity and is supported by the commitment to eradicate unfair discrimination within the Institutional Anti-discrimination Policy.
Decent work is held to be a job that allows a person to work in good and safe conditions, to be paid fairly, and to provide his or her family with social protection. Decent work allows us to progress from a professional perspective, to be understood in the workplace and gives men and women the same opportunities. According to the United Nations, 470 million jobs are needed globally for newcomers to the labour market between 2016 and 2030. Technical and Vocational Education and Training at UP aims to reduce the number of unemployed youth by increasing access to training opportunities. Also, quality education at UP raises awareness about forced and child labour and helps prevent and eradicate them in all their existing forms
The culture of excellent teaching is firmly entrenched at UP across all fields of study. Our committed academics have multiple approaches to teaching to ensure that students with a variety of learning strengths succeed. Our teaching and learning approach is based on inquiry-based learning, hybrid learning, and community-based learning. This means that students can ask questions and do research in their field to learn and discover answers on their own. Be taught in a classroom or other formal contact environment but also find additional activities, notes, resources, and videos to supplement their classes online or practically apply their knowledge to help communities around university campuses.
Research on the loss of decent living conditions and work: The story centres on the coloured community in Elandskloof, in the picturesque Cederberg region of the Western Cape. The community was forcibly and violently removed from this area in 1962 when, as a result of the Group Areas Act of 1950, the land was sold by the Nederduitse Gereformeerder Kerk (NGK) or Dutch Reformed Church, and their homes and belongings were burned and bulldozed.
Quest for a just workforce: Discrimination and violence in the workplace (along the lines of gender, race, sexuality, socio-economic status, employee profile, and career development opportunities) often impact employees’ behaviour, resulting in the development of psychosocial challenges. Within the quest for a just workforce, research on the wellness and well-being of workers should include prevention and treatment of workplace challenges in an attempt to ensure a safe work environment and improve the productivity of employees. Furthermore, monitoring and evaluation are needed to determine the return on investment, especially insofar as employee wellness programmes contribute to financially fit companies and organizations.
The Future of Work: To give a UP example, we have a business incubator called TuksNovation in order to train our students to be entrepreneurs and employers. TuksNovation provides specialized innovative thinking and support to entrepreneurs throughout their start-up growth journeys, and we have a growing number of strong local and international partnerships. We are motivated by the opportunities these partnerships present in support of the growing trend of small business global entrepreneurship, which effectively boosts the internationalization of small businesses. While the internationalization of large corporates or multinationals is long-established, the linking of small businesses to international value chains and markets is rapidly rising. A world of opportunity is open in this borderless environment, and this has been turbo-charged by digitalization. This has an inestimable impact on the potential to scale and accelerate the business maturation of start-ups and small businesses.
Work Readiness: The world of work in the 21st century requires a multi-skilled and self-sufficient labour force. Academic qualification is no longer enough to guarantee employment as organizations seek for work-ready graduates with job-specific skills. The Enterprises University of Pretoria in collaboration with the Career Services at the University of Pretoria launched a Ready for Work Programme that is easily customized to suit your organization's needs.
Health & Well-Being: The Department of Psychology conducts research in four broad research themes linked with various research focus areas. For a list of specific Research Focus Areas for each staff member click here.
The Employment Equity Plan is promoting equal employment opportunities and fair treatment in employment through the deliberate elimination of unfair discrimination; and implementing Employment Equity measures to redress the employment disadvantages experienced by designated groups.
The University of Pretoria remuneration practices are all contained in the Remuneration Policy. Minimum wage is a legislated absolute minimum pay level, whereas a 'living wage' is an aspirational minimum pay level for full-time staff.
Mindful of its past, and taking cognisance of the vision and mission and underlying values enshrined in the University of Pretoria's Strategic Plan, the University seeks to build an inclusive, affirming and transformed institutional culture, curriculm and campus and residence life. The University of Pretoria rejects and condemns racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, ethnic chauvinism, religious intolerance, unfair discrimination, hate speech, sexual harassment and harassment based on other prohibited grounds, gender-based violence and violence based on other prohibited grounds; and retaliation, in all its forms. This policy aims to create an enabling framework to address individual, structural and systemic forms of discrimination and exclusion and to ensure procedural as well as substantive justice. Click here to read more.
Modern slavery is a violation of basic human rights and constitutes a crime. It includes slavery, servitude, forced and compulsory labour and human trafficking, all of which involve the deprivation of one person's freedom by another in order to exploit that person for personal or commercial gain. The University of Pretoria is committed to the protection of human rights and the prevention of slavery and human trafficking in all its manifestations. The University’s zero tolerance approach to slavery and human trafficking extends to all its operations and to its supply chain. The University complies with all applicable South African legislation relating to terms and conditions of employment, including remuneration.
Anti-Slavery and Human trafficking
The University of Pretoria remuneration practices are all contained in the Remuneration Policy. Minimum wage is a legislated absolute minimum pay level, whereas a 'living wage' is an aspirational minimum pay level for full-time staff.
A grievance is a feeling of dissatisfaction experienced by an employee in his or her work or conditions and circumstances in the workplace, which he or she wishes to bring to the attention of management for a possible solution. The grievance procedure is aimed at empowering every individual who works at the University of Pretoria, whenever he/she feels aggrieved about any matter relating to his/her work or working conditions, to discuss the matter with the University management in an attempt to find a solution to the grievance.
Read more about Goal 8 on the UN website
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