Schedule 8 Item 7 of the Code of Good Practice: Dismissal (Labour Relations Act) states that to determine whether a dismissal is fair, the following needs to be considered: If the employee contravened a rule or standard regulating conduct in or of relevance to the workplace and;If a rule or standard was contravened: whether that rule or standard was valid or reasonable;the employee was aware or could reasonably be expected to have been aware of the rule or standard;the rule or standard has...

Submitting false documentation is a serious offence which warrants a hearing, sadly employers are often lost when trying to establish if medical certificates are valid and this misconduct is often overlooked. Both section 23 of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) and Rule 16 of the Ethical Guidelines from the Health Professionals Council of South Africa (HPCSA) set out requirements for medical certificates. Rule 16 states: (1) A practitioner shall only grant a certificate of illness...

A guide to in-camera proceedings. Intimidation and threats are common in the industrial sphere in South Africa. These actions often come about after serious misconduct is alleged to have been committed - dishonesty, unprotected strikes etc. Employees not only have to work in close conjunction with one another but often live close to each other and use the same transport home. Therefore, it is understandable when an employee is too frightened to testify in a hearing. An Employer cannot compel a...

Due to an increasing backlog at the CCMA and packed Court rolls, parties in a working relationship is encouraged to resolve their own labour disputes and to not make use of formal dispute resolution mechanism. This can be done by entering into a voluntary written settlement. Such a settlement agreement usually determines that the matter is settled in full between the parties and that the employee cannot approach the CCMA with unfair dismissal or unfair labour practice claim. However, this does...