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...

The Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75/1997 (BCEA) states that the provisions for annual leave do not apply in the following instances; Employees who work less than 24 hours per month for an employer. Leave granted to employees in excess of the entitlement allowed in terms of the BCEA. Calculation of annual leave The BCEA stipulates that employers must grant annual leave of at least 21 consecutive calendar days (Section 20(2)(a)). Employees working 5 days in a week should get 15 working...

There is no compulsory retirement age for employees in South Africa therefore employees may continue working until they are incapable of performing their job. In these circumstances the employer would need to follow the incapacity procedure as set out in Schedule 8 of the Labour Relations Act (LRA). Section 187(1)(f) of the LRA declares a dismissal of an employee based on their age automatically unfair. The Labour Court can award up to 24 months of the employee’s remuneration as compensation,...

Almost every employer has had to deal with one of the following situations: An employee reports for duty while under the under the influence of liquor of drugs. An employee consumed alcohol while on duty. An employee reports for duty while the exceeding the allowed limit of alcohol in his bloodstream. This conduct constitutes misconduct and employers need to deal with this in an appropriate manner. What’s the employer’s duty when this happens? In terms of the Operational Health & Safety...