According to the South African bill of right everyone has the right to fair labour practices. Every worker has the right ­to form and join a trade union; to participate in the activities and programmes of a trade union; and to strike .Every employer has the right ­to form and join an employers' organization; and to participate in the activities and programmes of an employers' organisation. Every trade union and every employer’s organization has the right ­to determine its own administration, programmes and activities , to organise and to form and join a federation. Every trade union, employers' organisation and employer has the right to engage in collective bargaining. National legislation may be enacted to regulate collective bargaining.

South Africa's labour legislation is among the most progressive in the world, providing for institutions to settle disputes and ensure fairness in the workplace.This was not always the case. Industrial relations in the apartheid era were characterised by high levels of racial discrimination, conflict, union repression, cheap labour policies and authoritarian management style.

The post-1994 labour legislation, the product of extensive consultation between government, labour and employers, has established nine institutions to nurture sound, co-operative industrial relations: