It is most likely that you have heard of the earning threshold, but what is it and how does this affect the basic conditions of employment of a person whose earnings are above the set amount? Section 6(3) of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, 75 of 1997 (BCEA) provides for the Minister of Employment and Labour to make a determination that excludes the application of chapter 2 of the BCEA or any provisions of it to any category of the employee earning more than an amount stated in that...

On 2 September 2022, the Minister of Home Affairs, DR PA Motsoaledi, MP, held, during  a press statement that he will be extending the grace period from 31 December 2022 by a further six months to 30 June 2023  for ZEP holders to apply for their visas. Therefore, an employee holding a ZEP may stay and work in South Africa (SA) until June 2023. They may not be arrested, deported or detained for not having a valid exemption certificate/permit. They may also be allowed to enter or...

In Schedule 8 of the Labour Relations Act, progressive discipline is a means for employees to know and understand the required standards. Progressive discipline plays an important role in the workplace and assists employees in correcting their behaviour and remedying their conduct. This means that employers should gradually attempt to correct the behaviour of their employees by issuing warnings before taking drastic measures such as dismissal. In the matter of Bridgestone SA (Pty) Ltd v...

Many employers have heard the phrase “there is insufficient evidence to find guilty” during disciplinary hearings. This is an unfortunate reality for employers, and unfortunately, this has led some employers to feel they would rather ignore a matter if, at face value, it appears to be a situation where one employee is stating one version of events and another employee the polar opposite which is the “he said she said” scenario. In previous articles, the risk of not investigating employee...

Presiding officers in disciplinary hearings are often laypersons, and their decisions must be viewed in that light. In the recent matter of Department of Health, Western Cape v Twalo and Another [2022] 8 BLLR 741 (LC), the Labour Court held that it is not necessarily reviewable if a commissioner or presiding officer cannot give reasons and especially if the decision follows findings already made in the award or ruling or are self-explanatory. Decisions lacking reasons so that the rationale...

Derivative misconduct is a term used when an employee knows of misconduct, for example, theft, and does not inform the employer. Such an employee may be dismissed for such misconduct. Derivative misconduct, therefore, arises when an employee possesses information that would enable an employer to identify wrongdoers in the workplace, but they fail to come forward. The burden of proof on an employer to justify dismissal relying on such conduct is, however, nothing but easy. The Constitutional...