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...
Employers can’t dismiss employees for a contempt of court charge
Many employers have experience of strike action, protected or otherwise, which results in unacceptable striker behaviour, such as intimidation and malicious damage to property. The employer then trundles off to the Labour court to obtain an interdict to restrain the...
Mere suspicion does not prove an employee guilty of misconduct
Strong suspicion that an employee has committed misconduct, is a persuasive thing. So persuasive, in fact, that employers are frequently lulled into concluding that the suspicion is so compelling, that it proves employee guilt, of misconduct. Nothing could be...
Substantively unfairly dismissed employees may not always be reinstated
Sections 193(1) and (2) of the Labour Relations Act, lists a hierarchy of remedies available to employees who are found to have been substantively unfairly dismissed in arbitration hearings. Retrospective reinstatement is a remedy limited to cases of substantively...
Employers may not randomly select a retirement age
Our labour courts still frequently hear cases in which employers have prematurely retired employees. In the main, this has to do with employers either retiring employees prior to the correct normal retirement date, or imposing a retirement age when none otherwise...
Falsely accused of sexual harassment
The 2005 Amended Code of sexual harassment talks of “…unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature that violates the rights of an employee and constitutes a barrier to equity in the workplace, taking into account all of the following factors: 4.1 whether the harassment is...
Charged with one thing and found guilty of another
In the Labour Court case of EOH Abantu v (Pty) Ltd [Case No. JA4/18], the employee had been found guilty of a charge that was not specified in the employer’s charge sheet. In short, the employee had been found guilty of gross negligence, when gross negligence was not...
When the impartiality of a Commissioner is disputed
CCMA and Bargaining Council Commissioners must conduct arbitration impartially, and in an unbiased fashion. When there is a perception of bias, a party can challenge the offensive conduct. This is precisely what occurred in the recent Labour Court case between...
The chasm between regret and remorse
An employee may regret having committed an act of misconduct, but they may not be remorseful for having done so. This distinction is important when considering both in the context of mitigating circumstances, after an employee has pleaded guilty, or been found...
Hearsay evidence is admissible at times
Hearsay evidence is evidence tendered by an individual who relays evidence which he/she did not personally witness with his/her own eyes or senses, but heard from someone else. Hearsay evidence is considered to be unreliable, problematic as the source of the evidence...