Selection criteria are frequently an employer’s Achilles heel in retrenchments
If you want to know what typically gets employers into trouble in retrenchment disputes, look no further than inadequate consultation and unfair selection criteria. To begin with, employers have an obligation, in respect of section 189(2) of the Labour Relations Act,...
The non-disclosure of an adverse relationship with a prior employer is not grounds for dismissal
It’s not surprising that job applicants will typically be reluctant to reveal acrimonious termination of employment with a previous employer. This is as common as the all too common patterns of CV embellishment seen daily. So how much is a job applicant required to...
Covid-19 and the Workplace: The Story So Far
It's hard to find the words to adequately describe the impact that Covid-19 has had on our lives, as well as its likely impact for the foreseeable future. Workplaces are undergoing their own revolution, as new, novel and unprecedented challenges build. The...
Department of Employment & Labour Covid-19 Direction on Labour Relations
The Minister of Employment and Labour issued a Covid-19 Direction on Labour Relations today (11 May 2020) in terms of Regulation 4(10) of the National Disaster Regulations. It deals, amongst other things, with operations of trade unions and employer organisations...
Urgent Directive confirms CCMA operations from 11 May 2020
On 8 May 2002, the CCMA published an urgent directive confirming how its operations will function from 11 May 2020. This includes how conciliation and arbitration cases will be dealt with. Read the announcement
Labour Relations – The First Hundred Days After Lockdown
Yip, these are historical times. As things stand, the lockdown will be uplifted from 1 May 2020, maybe. As has been the case in our sector of labour relations consulting to employers across the country, and indeed many others, the hitherto lesser known benefits of...
Musings of a labour relations consultant during the Covid-19 disaster
The Covid-19 developments have taken our breath away. My personal Covid-19 period memory bank takes me back to a flight back to South Africa from Frankfurt in mid-January 2020, when most of us were pretty oblivious to the impending drama that was about to unfold. I’d...
No severance pay is payable if employee declines reasonable alternative employment
It may sound unfair, or unreasonable, but employers are not obliged to pay employees who are retrenched, severance pay, if they refuse to accept an offer of alternative employment with their current employer or another employer, when being retrenched. This is...
Not every case of assault should be met with dismissal
Assault is an understandably emotionally charged, category of assault, which more often than not, justifies dismissal. It need not however always warrant dismissal. In the arbitration award in SACCAWU obo A. Carolus v Freshmark (Pty) Ltd [Case number 16835-18], it...
Trade unions must operate within their registered scope
Section 96 of the Labour Relations Act outlines the steps to be followed when a trade union or employer’s organisation wishes to register with the Department of Labour. This process is relatively straightforward and includes the completion of a prescribed form, the...
A stratagem of dishonesty and deceit justifies dismissal
A recent 13 February 2020 Labour Appeal Court judgment in Autozone v Dispute Resolution Centre of Motor Industry & 2 others (Case number JA52/2015), it was confirmed that the attempted theft of R30.00 by an employee, does indeed amount to misconduct if such a...
Dismissal on grounds of ill health is fair if statutory obligations are met
Make no mistake, whilst dismissals on grounds of ill health can be fair in our law, as with all cases of dismissal, there are very specific procedures to be followed. What makes these kinds of cases all the more challenging, is that there is no fault on the part of...