Latest Articles
The ‘doctrine of common purpose’ and the workplace
Collective guilt arises when an employer deems it appropriate/necessary to hold one or more individuals liable for the acts of others within a group. The doctrine of common purpose was originally sourced from the field of criminal law the essence of which, as...
Concourt TES judgment severely lessens the viability of long-term labour broker usage
On 26 July 2018, the Constitutional Court handed down a landmark judgment in the application against a judgment of the Labour Appeal Court, to determine the correct interpretation of section 198A(3)(b) of the Labour Relations Act. This Concourt judgment has caused...
You can’t resign to avoid disciplinary action
On occasion, employers are faced with circumstances in which an employee resigns to avoid disciplinary action. In fact, some collective agreements in the Public sector, specifically allow for employees to resign at any time prior to a finding being made, after which...
Labour Arbitration Hearings – Fundamental Principles
The CCMA has been a part of the employment law landscape for approximately twenty three years and, as are Bargaining Councils, it is tasked with the adjudication of many employment disputes if and when conciliation fails, the vast majority of which are related to...
Labour Court rules on Constructive Dismissal
Earlier this month, the Labour Court passed judgment in a review application regarding a constructive dismissal case, between Agricultural Research Council v Silas Ramashowana and Others (Case number: JR1432/15). Constructive dismissal cases are interesting for a...
Moonlighting is not always lawful
Given the pressing economic times we live in, it’s not surprising that the so-called gig economy is evolving at the pace it is. It is a gig economy in which many choose to hire themselves out on a project basis, from gig to gig. Another way of making ends meet is to...
Consistency in disciplinary hearings
Consistency relates to the requirement that like offences, or acts of misconduct, should be treated alike, and different cases treated differently. This principle is also sometimes referred to as the parity principle. Whilst it is important to be consistent, this...
How does the Labour Court determine when dismissal is too harsh?
In our law, dismissals must be fair. More precisely, they must be both procedurally and substantively fair. One of the key elements of substantive fairness is that the sanction imposed must be appropriate, ‘the punishment must fit the crime’, so to speak. This...
Preparing witnesses for disciplinary and arbitration hearings
In essence, the preparation of a witness for a disciplinary hearing, is the same as that for an arbitration hearing. Our firm chairs disciplinary hearings across the country daily, and it has often been our experience that witnesses have either, at worst, not been...
Employee Negligence can lead to dismissal
Employees have an obligation to meet reasonable performance targets and objectives. In so far as an employees work performance is of such a nature that the actual performance is less than that which the employer can prove it can reasonably have expected from the...
Your hairdo is no ground for dismissal
Who would have thought that your hairdo could lead to your dismissal? Well, the Department of Correctional Services concluded it did when dismissing a number of employees for wearing “dreadlocks”, Rasta style, and refusing to cut their hair when instructed to do so....
Probation is part of our law
There are many misconceptions about the role and effect of probationary periods in employment contracts. It’s not surprising to hear employers conclude that probation periods pretty much give them carte blanche to dismiss probationers in the formative phase of an...