Chapter 30 – Victimisation The labour law prohibits the victimisation of employees in retaliation for referring a dispute to the CCMA, joining a trade union; and reporting any infringements committed by the employer to the authorities. The penalty against employers who victimise their employees in this way is likely to be harsh.
Chapter 29 – The Use of Labour Law Expertise The biggest reason why employers land up at the CCMA, the Bargaining Councils and/or the Labour Court – and why employers then often end up losing the case – is the employer’s inadequate expertise with regards to employee management and labour law matters. In South Africa, […]
Chapter 28 – Demotion When it comes to demotion in the workplace, employers should hesitate to demote employees unless all four factors are present. If all four factors cannot be proven by the employer – then an arbitrator at the CCMA, or another forum, is likely to find the demotion to be unfair. In cases […]
Chapter 32 – Employment Equity Requirements All employers operating within South Africa are bound by the anti-discrimination provisions of the Employment Equity Act (EEA). This means that no employers are exempt from the law prohibiting unfair discrimination. Section 6 of the Employment Equity Act (EEA) prohibits unfair discrimination against employees and job applicants on certain grounds. […]
Chapter 27 – The CCMA No employer should ever ignore any document received from the CCMA. Instead, all documents must immediately be passed on to the employer’s internal or external labour law expert for action. If the CCMA document that the employer receives is a notice of set down, the employer must note when and […]
Chapter 25 – Working Hours and Forced Changes to Terms and Conditions of Employment Requiring employees to work during their breaks is illegal, unless there are unavoidable exceptional circumstances where completing essential tasks is crucial and there is no one else available to do the work. It is unhealthy and counterproductive to require your employees […]
Chapter 26 – The Statutory Dispute Resolution and Law Enforcement Process The statutory labour dispute resolution system is primarily based on five institutions, which are as follows: The Department of Employment and Labour / Bargaining Councils / The Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) / The Labour Court and / The Labour Appeal Court. […]
Chapter 23 – Maternity and Parental Leave According to the law, employees going on maternity leave are, in fact, not entitled to paid maternity leave. That is, while the employer may legally elect to pay an employee on maternity leave, this is not a statutory requirement. However, an employer who does elect to grant one […]
Chapter 22 – Family Responsibility Leave The law entitles every employee who works four or more days per week – and who has completed four or more months of service with the employer – to three days of paid family responsibility leave per year. It is important to stress that an employee’s family responsibility entitlement […]
Chapter 20 – Annual Leave When it comes to annual leave, every employee is entitled to three weeks’ vacation leave annually for purposes of having a rest from working. As such, an employer is not permitted to refuse vacation leave to an employee, allow the employee to waive his or her right to take statutory […]
