JOHANNESBURG - The World Economic Forum ranks South Africa number 137 out of 137 countries in the latest World Competitiveness Report.

It says South Africa has the worst labour-employer relations in the world.

A contributing factor to this poor ranking is how complex South Africa's labour legislation is for a business to navigate.

The most recent Business/Partners SME Index revealed that only 41 percent of SMEs are confident that the current labour laws are conducive to business growth.

The Executive General Manager of Human Resources at Business Partners Limited Kgomotso Ramoenyane said labour laws are not equally in favour of the employer which is difficult to navigate for SMEs.