A phrase commonly used in law is “Justice delayed is justice denied”, meaning that by delaying to charge and finalise an employee’s hearing would be to deny their justice and therefore denying a fair hearing. But what constitutes a delay? Section 188 of the Labour Relations Act (LRA) sets out strict requirements to ensure that a dismissal is fair. However, none of these requirements deals with the time limit between the commission of the misconduct and the date on which the notice of hearing...

Employers are sometimes faced with a situation were an employee caused damage to the employer as a result of their actions or omissions. Employers must decide to either impose a warning or deduct the cost of the damages from the employee’s salary. The question now arises whether you can issue a warning and deduct the damages - or whether this amounts to double jeopardy. What is double jeopardy? Double jeopardy occurs where an employee is punished twice for the same incident of misconduct or...

The question of “Why didn’t I get a bonus?” is one that crosses the mind of many employees, as they often feel that they have a right to a bonus. The South African Labour Law is silent on the issue of bonuses with the result that the payment or non-payment of bonuses is left to the discretion of the employer. Certain bargaining council collective agreements make provision for the payment of bonuses and are thus binding on the employers of those sectors. The general rule of thumb is that if an...