LABOUR BROKERS NEED SOUND LEGAL ADVICE

LABOUR BROKERS NEED SOUND LEGAL ADVICE

Labour brokers and temp. agencies employ hundreds of thousands of people in South Africa and are referred to in the LRA as “temporary employment services” (TES). Many of these employers have not fully realised that the labour laws applying to other employers apply...
GROSS MISCONDUCT IS NOT AUTOMATICALLY DISMISSABLE

GROSS MISCONDUCT IS NOT AUTOMATICALLY DISMISSABLE

Labour legislation in South Africa is heavily weighted in favour of employees. The heavy protection of employees against being dismissed makes it very difficult for employers to run efficient workplaces. This in turn compromises the ability of businesses to grow and...
WHEN EMPLOYEES FALSELY ACCUSE EMPLOYERS

WHEN EMPLOYEES FALSELY ACCUSE EMPLOYERS

Making unsupported allegations of unfairness against employers can be costly. This is partly because the CCMA, Labour Court, Labour Appeal Court, and bargaining councils deal with approximately180 000 cases per year and do not have time to waste on dealing with false...
DISCIPLINARY ENQUIRIES NEED THOROUGH PREPARATION

DISCIPLINARY ENQUIRIES NEED THOROUGH PREPARATION

Some time ago I was asked by an employer to assist with preparing for a Labour Court review case. The employer had dismissed the employee for theft, but the CCMA had forced the employer to reinstate him. I was puzzled by the CCMA’s decision because, on discussing the...
DON’T DISCIPLINE EMPLOYEES TWICE FOR THE SAME OFFENCE

DON’T DISCIPLINE EMPLOYEES TWICE FOR THE SAME OFFENCE

South African labour law requires all discipline to be corrective rather than punitive. When an employer disciplines an employee twice for the very same incident of misconduct the CCMA is likely to see this as punitive. It is only under highly exceptional...
THE RISK OF USING FIXED-TERM CONTRACTS FOR PERMANENT POSITIONS

THE RISK OF USING FIXED-TERM CONTRACTS FOR PERMANENT POSITIONS

South African employers often lose at CCMA and bargaining councils in cases relating to fixed-term contracts. A key reason for this is that employers do not understand the legal purpose of fixed-term contracts and the circumstances under which they are safe to...
VICTIMISATION VS INCOMPATABILITY

VICTIMISATION VS INCOMPATABILITY

Employees who lodge grievances OR CCMA disputes are too often victimized for exercising their rights. Such victimization often takes the form of dismissals for incompatibility. A case in point is the one of Jabari vs Telkom SA (Pty) Ltd (2006, 10 BLLR 924). Here, the...
DON’T DELAY DISCIPLINE

DON’T DELAY DISCIPLINE

In order to optimise the corrective effect of discipline it needs to be implemented as swiftly as possible. This does not mean that the disciplinary process must be carried out hastily. It does mean that, psychologically and legally, unnecessary delays must be...
JAILED EMPLOYEES STILL HAVE RIGHTS

JAILED EMPLOYEES STILL HAVE RIGHTS

Dismissing employees who have been arrested can be dangerous.​ It seems obvious to employers that, if an employee is arrested by the police he has ‘dismissed himself’. However, this mistaken belief is born from wishful thinking. Reasons for such wishful thinking may...
EMPLOYEES, AN EXPENSE OR AN INVESTMENT?

EMPLOYEES, AN EXPENSE OR AN INVESTMENT?

Where businesses and other organisations are unable to get work done by robots, they need to acquire the necessary skills by hiring staff. A key question then arises as to whether the money expended to acquire and retain these employee skills should be seen as an...