The Right to Freedom of Religion is enshrined under Section 15 of our Constitution as such it is a listed ground. This means that if an employee alleges discrimination based on his religious beliefs the onus rests on the employer to disprove this allegation. The employer could be the State or a privately owned company. This may be a difficult task, however, the employer can raise a defence of inherent requirements of the job and is expected to show reasonable accommodation towards employees....

There are prescribed periods of notice that each employee must give when they terminate their employment. These periods are governed by the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) or applicable Main Collective Agreement from a Bargaining Council which applies to the Industry or Sectoral Determination. Each Bargaining Council also has their own notice periods which must be complied with in that specific sector. For the purposes of this article, we will work with the BCEA but the principle is...

Employers are often faced with a situation where an employee has not taken leave over a prolonged period of time and demands payment in respect of the accrued leave upon termination of the employment contract which often amounts to large sums of money. The Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997 (BCEA) affords an employee 21 consecutive days of annual leave for each leave cycle. A leave cycle is defined as a period of 12 months’ employment with the same employer. As per the BCEA, the...

“Incompatibility arises when employees are unable to work harmoniously with their colleagues or are unable to adapt to the corporate culture of the workplace.” – John Grogan Any employer would say that it is an employer’s prerogative to have his or her employees conduct themselves in a harmonious manner for the benefit of workplace efficiency. The expectation seems reasonable but there is seldom, if ever, such an ideal working environment where every single employee gets along. The more...

The concept of annual leave and the accrual thereof is often well understood by employers, however, some employers have trouble calculating the actual amount of leave owed to the employee in Rand value, upon termination of employment. Employees working 5 days per week should get 15 working days of annual leave, which accrues at 1,25 days per month. Employees working 6 days per week should get 18 days of annual leave which accrues at 1,5 days per month. It is clear from the above that the...