Latest Articles
Employers frequently face unnecessary procedural fairness risk in dismissal cases
Most employers focus their energy on proving why an employee was dismissed, be it for misconduct, incapacity or operational requirements. But at the CCMA and bargaining councils, cases are just as often lost on how the dismissal was carried out, not whether it was...
Negligence or Gross Negligence?
In the context of a workplace, an employee is negligent when they fail to exercise the standard of care that can be reasonably expected, which causes actual or potential loss to the employer. Various investigative questions need to be answered to determine the...
Constructive dismissal claims must be buttressed by concrete evidence
Section 186(1)(e) of the Labour Relations Act defines constructive dismissal to be circumstances in which “an employee terminated employment with or without notice because the employer made continued employment intolerable for the employee”. Put differently, the...
Mandatory workplace Covid-19 vaccination – the story so far
The debates around mandatory Covid-19 workplace vaccination policies are currently the dominant labour relations conundrum. Compulsory workplace vaccination policies - can you, or can't you? It's a hot topic, and everybody has their own view and opinion on the...
The employer Covid-19 vaccination conundrum
The much-anticipated Department of Employment and Labour ‘Direction’ on Covid19 vaccination was Gazetted on 11 June 2021. Mandatory vaccination is permissible; or is it? Employers across the country are grappling with the decision of whether to make Covid19...
The tickly beard and the sexual harassment dismissal
Most unfortunately, we will in all likelihood be lamenting the scourge of workplace sexual harassment for some time to come. The Code of Good Practice in handling of Sexual Harassment Cases in the Workplace could not be clearer – “Sexual harassment in the working...
Employers interfere with hearing sanctions at their peril
As a rule, employers may not interfere with the outcome of a disciplinary hearing where the chairperson is empowered to make a final decision. This, was confirmed in South African Revenue Services v Commission for Conciliation Mediation & Arbitration &...
The story of the light blue hairclip and a fair dismissal
It’s an unfortunate reality that in this day and age of massive unemployment, certain employees have scant regard for, or appreciation of, their otherwise secure employment. All too often, employees behave in a manner which defies all logic and comprehension. Such...
Dismissal of employees in an unprotected strike mob was fair says the Labour Court
The CCMA comes in for quite a bit of flack. Let’s face it, half of the parties in arbitration cases lose, and the CCMA and its Commissioners are the easiest, and closest targets. In our experience, however, you normally pretty much get the arbitration award you...
We don’t see enough progressive discipline
Disciplinary procedures are, first and foremost, a process to attempt to correct unacceptable employee behaviour. There are of course many occasions when dismissal for a first offence is fair and justified, such as in cases of gross dishonesty, breaches of safety...
Can employers require employees to be vaccinated?
The tense uncertainty as to whether employers will be entitled to impose mandatory Covid19 vaccine policies on employees is already a hot topic, and it’s going to become even more so in the coming months, as vaccines arrive in the country and the vaccine drive begins....
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,...