By Ivan Israelstam, Chief Executive of Labour Law Management Consulting. He may be contacted on (011) 888-7944 or 0828522973 or on e-mail address: ivan@labourlawadvice.co.za. Go to: www.labourlawvideos.co.za
The rights of workers to join trade unions and to participate in their activities is heavily protected by the Constitution and by the Labour Relations Act (LRA). Section 5 of the LRA specifically protects union members, would be union members and union activists from being dismissed or otherwise prejudiced due to their legitimate union involvement.
At the same time the law protects employees from intimidation and violence that might be used to coerce employees to join trade unions. That is, employers have the right to discipline and, where appropriate, dismiss violent employees or employees who threaten violence. However, where an employer suspects such misconduct, it cannot fire the perpetrators without solid evidence thereof. Should the employer not be able to provide such proof it is in grave danger of being found guilty of fabricating the charges and of secretly deciding to fire the employees for their union affiliation.
A case in point is that of AMCU obo Maluleke and 4 others vs Gold Plat Recovery (Pty) Ltd (Lex Media July 2024, Labour Court case number JS202/21). In that case the employer fired five employees for intimidating colleagues by threatening to burn their homes and to assassinate the employer’s HR Manager. AMCU referred to the Labour Court a case of automatically unfair dismissal of its five members, alleging that the true reason for their dismissals was their union membership and their member recruitment efforts.
In the Labour Court the employer brought only one witness to prove its allegations of intimidatory behaviour. However, the witness was only able to present hearsay evidence, claiming that he had been informed by the alleged victims of intimidation of the threats allegedly made by the five dismissed union members. This witness further explained that the alleged victims of the misconduct had been too scared to testify in court. However, the employer was unable to explain why it had not subpoenaed the alleged victims or to request a court hearing in camera.
As a result, the Court refused to allow the hearsay evidence. The absence of proof from the employer and the testimonies of several unions’ witnesses convinced the court that the employer’s true motive for firing the 5 employees was their union involvement. The Court therefore ordered the employer to reinstate all 5 employees with 41 months backpay each. If the employees were earning only R10 000 each the backpay would have come to over two million rand.
To avoid such costly errors employers, need to train their managers so that they will know how to deal with alleged intimidation and with consequent legal action.
The innovative video series WALKING THE LABOUR LAW TIGHTROPE provides very inexpensive training that allows the managers of every employer to obtain essential labour law knowhow, and to do so at times suitable to their very busy schedules. Its 48 chapters, averaging 10 minutes in length each, can easily be watched at junctures when the manager has time.
The employer has the option of using this groundbreaking video series to train its managers and HR practitioners in groups and then follow-up by getting them to view the video chapters again at convenient junctures in order to ensure that they retain the learning gained. Alternatively, employers with self-learning systems can simply give their managers and HR practitioners access to the entire series for viewing at times that suit their busy work schedules.
This greatly informative yet very engaging and practical video series provides crucial and user-friendly learning through the use of a stimulating, animated case study that runs throughout the 48-chapter series. Each chapter contains clear and important advice needed by workplace management on the basics of labour law over a very wide range of topics.
A further advantage is that the manager can, for a full year, easily go back to any of the 48 videos for purposes of refresher training or in order to access information on how to deal with a current workplace issue. This solves the problem of managers forgetting what they have learned and sustainably builds the managers’ capacity to manage the workplace effectively and in line with the law.
That is, this video series helps management to walk the shaky labour law tightrope and to run the workplace productively without falling into the labour law abyss.
To access our 48-part video series, WALKING THE NEW LABOUR LAW TIGHTROPE. Just go to www.labourlawvideos.co.za or contact Ivan on ivan@labourlawadvice.co.za
