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...

Whether it is an employee reporting for duty under the influence of alcohol, consuming alcohol while on duty, reporting late for duty, being absent from work or simply failing to comply with basic duties and responsibility for reasons related to alcohol, every employer has, at least once, had to deal with alcohol-related offences. Where an employee commits these offences, such employee is defying the company's rules and policies which are considered misconduct. In such instances, the employer...

Poor work performance might be considered as an unfamiliar process to a lot of employers. The problematic part comes in at the inception of the employer-employee relationship, once the employer decides to hire a new employee. Not much is known about this employee's working ability and the employer is left with nothing but his better judgement and the hope that this person would be able to handle the tasks given. What to do when that employee seems to struggle with his or her duties? A lot of...

In terms of Section 23 of the South African Constitution the right to strike is unrestricted. Like any right in the Constitution, the right to strike is however not an absolute right. Section 36 of the Constitution allows the right to strike to be limited in terms of the law of general application. Such a limitation should, however, be reasonable. With regards to labour disputes, substantive limitations prohibit strikes in certain circumstances. Section 213 of the Labour Relations Act (LRA)...

The position on parental leave is proposed to change, as the Labour Law Amendment Bill, which was proposed by the African Christian Democratic Party in 2015, has been issued for public comment. This article specifically refers to the rights that new fathers have to make use of the proposed leave as from the birth of their child. Current Position According to the Basic Conditions of Employment of 2002 (BCEA), a father who wishes to spend time with their newborn will have to make use of family...

On 26 July 2018 at 10h00, the Constitutional Court handed down judgment in an application for leave to appeal against an order of the Labour Appeal Court (LAC).  The case concerned the interpretation of Section 198A(3)(b) of the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 (LRA) and whether this deeming provision resulted in a “sole employment” relationship between a placed worker and a client or a “dual employment” relationship between a Temporary Employment Service (TES), a placed worker and a...

Employers should know when the actions of employees constitutes a strike, which is defined in the Labour Relations Act No 66 of 1995 (LRA) as “the partial or complete concerted refusal to work, or the retardation or obstruction of work, by persons who are or have been employed by the same employer or by different employers, for the purpose of remedying a grievance or resolving a dispute in respect of any matter of mutual interest between employer and employee and every reference to work in...

A constructive dismissal is defined as a situation in the workplace created by the employer, which renders the employment relationship intolerable for the employee. Section 186(1)(e) of the Labour Relations Act (LRA) 66 of 1995, states that in circumstances where “an employee terminated a contract of employment with or without notice because the employer made continued employment intolerable for the employee”, constitutes a dismissal. There are numerous instances of an intolerable employment...