Take action against employees who cause you reputational harm through their social media outbursts. Employees cannot claim that they have full reigns online if their comments cause detrimental damage to your business! Follow the link below, and SEESA will call you: https://bit.ly/3L2msDk
The question of what constitutes whistleblowing arises often. Whistleblowing can be defined as an act by an employee to provide their employer with information regarding misconduct committed by one of their colleagues and/or to raise a concern about any acts of wrongdoing within the workplace. Common examples include fraud and harassment-related offences. Most employees often turn a blind eye in fear of being charged for misconduct themselves. However, employers should note that such...
CCMA applications are regulated by Sections 31 and 32 of the CCMA rules, and Section 191 of the Labour Relations Act determines the time frames for employees to refer disputes to the CCMA. An employee has 30 days to refer a dispute for unfair dismissal and 90 days for unfair labour practice. If an employee is late applying to the CCMA, they must submit a Condonation application. The commissioner, in deciding whether to grant the condonation, will have to determine whether good cause has been...
Whilst constructive dismissal is not defined in the Labour Relations Act – Section 186(1)(e) of the act alludes to the term and states that dismissal means that 'an employee terminated a contract of employment with or without notice because the employer made continued employment intolerable for the employee'. From the above, it is clear that this is not a normal dismissal, as the employee initiates the act of leaving the workplace. Thus, in constructive dismissal cases, the onus of proof to...
An employee who is a commissioning parent in a surrogate motherhood agreement is entitled to commissioning parent leave of at least 10 (ten) consecutive weeks. However, should the surrogate motherhood agreement provide two commissioning parents, only one of the commissioning parents may apply for commissioning parental leave. The other commissioning parent may apply for at least ten consecutive days of parental leave. An employee may commission parental leave on the date a child is born...
With the uptick seen in union negotiations in the past months, there have been disputes between employers and unions regarding the union’s access to the workplace. The Labour Relations Act sets out criteria for a union to have the right to access the employer’s premises: Firstly, the union should have over 30% of the employees in the workplace as its members;Second, the right to access the workplace should be subject to any conditions as to time and place that are reasonable and necessary to...
SEESA Labour Legal Advisors, Charl Vollgraaff and Sandrisha Govender discuss aspects of Labour Law in South Africa as it relates to collective bargaining and collective agreements. They focus on collective agreements concluded with majority trade unions and the effect on minority unions and non-union members. Click on the play button below to listen to our podcast! Contact your nearest SEESA office to assist your business with labour related queries. Alternatively, leave your contact details...
Although this seems to be an apparent situation, at first glance, the matter had to be escalated to the Labour appeal court to be confirmed. In the case of Woolworths (Pty) Ltd v CCMA and others PA 12/2020 LAC, an employee claimed to be ill and attended a Rugby match. The CCMA found the dismissal was unfair both procedurally and substantively, as he had not hidden the fact that he attended the match and he was, therefore, not dishonest. The Labour Court found the dismissal procedurally fair...
There are no cut and dried rules that specifically prohibits employers from re-employing dismissed or terminated employees in our law. A process of re-employing terminated or dismissed employees was not meant to be conducted haphazardly or carelessly without a measure of caution as it can have unintended repercussions. This article aims to redress the issues emanating from the re-employment of terminated or dismissed employees. What is re-employment? Re-employment is an act of being...
Don’t get caught with egg on your face! Instead, put the golden eggs in your pocket and ensure you are compliant with the minimum wages within your workplace. No one has time for back payments and compliance orders! Follow the link below, and SEESA will give you a call: https://bit.ly/3L2msDk