Latest Articles
Picketing & the LRA
Section 69 of the LRA deals with the rights of strikers, and their supporters, to picket, which is further dealt with in the LRA Code of Good Practice on Picketing. This right to picket can be traced back to section 17 of the Constitution which provides that everyone...
Pre-hearing suspension
Employers will frequently consider it necessary to suspend an employee, on full pay, pending the outcome of an investigation into suspected misconduct on the part of the employee, and/or to similarly suspend an employee pending the outcome of a disciplinary hearing....
Over hasty retrenchments fall foul of the law
Employers have still not universally grasped the meaning of a bona fide consultation process when undertaking a consultation process pursuant to a proposed retrenchment. I still, in my own firm, still come across employers who are of the understanding that a...
Re-hearing disciplinary hearings is possible at times
Disciplinary procedures typically have supplementary appeal procedures which make provision for employees who feel unjustly wronged by a disciplinary hearing to appeal the hearing verdict and/or sanction. But what if it is in fact the employer who feels aggrieved on...
Procedural fairness in discipline demystified
All cases of alleged unfair dismissal are assessed on the basis of two criteria, substantive (which we look at next week) and procedural fairness. Whilst an ex-employee’s remedy for procedural unfairness does not include reinstatement, what is available to an employee...
Employees cannot withdraw a resignation at will
On occasion, employees seek to withdraw their resignation. The facts of the case were, in the main, common cause. The employee had an altercation with her manager in a store, after which she submitted a letter of resignation giving her employer 24 hours notice that “I...
IR Audits benefit employers and employees alike
Dismissals that occur after normal retirement age present employers with a specific set of circumstances that differ markedly from all other forms of dismissal. Section 187(2)(b) of the Labour Relations Act states that a dismissal based on age is fair if the employee...
Key employment contract provisions
Our firm is frequently required to guide clients in the drafting of employment contracts. As is to be expected, the wording and structure of an employment contract is extremely important. All too often, employers and employees regret not having paid enough attention...
Hearsay evidence is admissible at times
Hearsay evidence is, in the main, inadmissible, and is best described as evidence tendered by an individual who relays evidence which s/he did not personally witness with his/her own eyes or senses, but heard from someone else. It is with good reason that hearsay...
Equal pay for equal value judgment
One of the most eye-catching amendments to recent amendments to labour legislation was the enactment of section 6(4) of the Employment Equity Act, which provides for equal pay for equal value. The Draft Code of Good Practice on Equal Pay for Equal Value states that...
Hearing charge sheets are often faulty
Employers frequently complete disciplinary hearing charge sheets poorly without, for example, properly outlining the specific components of the allegations being levelled against an employee. Predictably, the entire disciplinary hearing process becomes contaminated...
Habitual poor time keeping warrants dismissal
Punctuality is a basic fundamental employment obligation. It’s taken as a given that when an employee enters into an employment contract with an employer, the employee is able to attend work on time. Two of the most basic of common law employment obligations which...