What if my employee doesn’t want to sign labour related documents?
Employers often ask questions regarding the guidelines to be followed when employees refuse to acknowledge receipt of any labour related document. A labour related document can be regarded as contracts of employment, disciplinary code, company rules and policies, disciplinary procedure documents, retrenchment documents, incapacity procedure documents etc. The most common practices will be discussed below: Contracts of employment In normal circumstances, a contract of employment should be...
The Right To Return Goods
The general misconception amongst many consumers is that the right to return goods (Section 20 of the Consumer Protection Act) applies regardless of the reason for the return. Therefore suppliers are often bullied into accepting returns even when there is no obligation on them to do so. It is quite clear from Section 20 of the CPA that this right does not apply where a consumer had a change of heart or buyer’s remorse. The background to this discussion involves a careful look at Section 20 of...
Scope of Application and what it means for your business
It is very important for a business to be aware of which Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) Codes are applicable to their specific business. The following amended Sector Codes have been gazetted by the Department of Trade and Industry to date: Agriculture Construction ICT (Information Communication and Technology) Finance MAC (Marketing Advertising and Communication) Property Tourism The draft amended Transport Sector Code have been gazetted but not yet finalised. This means that...
Selling second hand goods: The supplier’s responsibility
According to the Consumer Protection Act (CPA), consumers have the right to suitable, quality products. When selling second-hand goods, suppliers often merely cites “voetstoots” and the consumer is expected to accept the goods as it is presented to them. However, the CPA protects consumers’ rights by placing specific obligations on the supplier to provide good working goods, usable for the purpose it was originally intended. A quick look at the CPA explains these rights and obligations....
Constitutional court puts temporary employment services (TES) in their place
In March 2015 SEESA published a newsletter reporting on the amendments to the Labour Relations Act (LRA) that drastically impacted the practices of Temporary Employment Services (TES), a.k.a. labour brokers. In that newsletter we predicted the industry’s extinction. Now, with the Constitutional Court’s ruling on TESs in July 2018, the industry as we know it has come to an end. SEESA Internal Training & Research National Manager, Otto Bronkhorst, shares his analysis of this topic. Leading...
The Employer’s Guide: Marijuana legalised… or is it?
With the Constitutional Court officially passing a judgment on 18 September in terms of legalizing the household use of dagga, the whole country seems to be in an uproar. What does this entail for employers in terms of still ensuring a productive and safe working environment for all? We can expect that employers will now face a situation where some employees aim to take advantage of this situation and if reprimanded for unacceptable behaviour, employees might plead ignorance....
Religious Freedom In The Workplace
The Right to Freedom of Religion is enshrined under Section 15 of our Constitution as such it is a listed ground. This means that if an employee alleges discrimination based on his religious beliefs the onus rests on the employer to disprove this allegation. The employer could be the State or a privately owned company. This may be a difficult task, however, the employer can raise a defence of inherent requirements of the job and is expected to show reasonable accommodation towards employees....
The Employers Guide to: Employees resigning with immediate effect
There are prescribed periods of notice that each employee must give when they terminate their employment. These periods are governed by the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) or applicable Main Collective Agreement from a Bargaining Council which applies to the Industry or Sectoral Determination. Each Bargaining Council also has their own notice periods which must be complied with in that specific sector. For the purposes of this article, we will work with the BCEA but the principle is...
Do you have a legal basis for processing personal information?
Section 11 of the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPI) “Consent, justification and objection”, forms part of the second condition for lawful processing, namely “processing limitation”. The purpose of this condition is to make the responsible party (the Party that determines the purpose of and means for processing personal information) aware that there are restrictions on the processing of personal information. Personal information should only be processed if the purpose of the...
The Forfeiture Of Annual Leave
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...