Have you ever wondered what your responsibility is as an employer when it comes to pregnant employees?  We all know that section 26(1) of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997 (hereafter referred to as “BCEA”)[1], states that “no employer may require or permit a pregnant employee or an employee who is nursing her child to perform work that is hazardous to her health or the health of her child”. The BCEA does not provide detail as to what would be hazardous to the employees’...

In disciplinary hearings, employers often need to submit documents or statements to prove misconduct on the employee’s side. This article will deal with the legitimacy of such documents or statements and how to correctly admit such evidence. South African Law of Evidence provides various types of evidence, and in this article, we will focus mainly on real evidence vs documentary evidence. The difference between documentary and real evidence depends on the purpose for which the evidence is...

The Difference Between Negligence And Gross Negligence. It is essential to distinguish between negligence and gross negligence. The reason being that negligence will not warrant dismissal for a first offence, whereas gross negligence could warrant dismissal for a first offence. Negligence is seen as the failure to fulfil the standard of care that ought to be exercised by a reasonable person in a particular situation. In labour law, the reasonable person test is used to establish negligence....

It’s safe to say that social media has infiltrated our personal lives and working environments to such an extent that one does not always realise the repercussions of posting and commenting freely on these platforms since it has formed part of our everyday activities. Racism can be defined as prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's race is superior.  The CCMA scrutinised this very definition and racial social...

Fixed-term contracts sound appealing in theory but can be very complicated. As such, the Labour Relations Act was amended in 2014 in an attempt to provide guidance on fixed-term contracts. Section 198B of the Labour Relations Amendment Act deals with fixed-term term contracts and defines a fixed term contract as a contract of employment that terminates either: on a fixed date; on a specified event; or once a particular project or task has been completed. This section does not apply to...