Can employees be dismissed for refusing to accept new terms and conditions of employment?
Can an employer dismiss employees because they refuse to agree to a change to their terms and conditions of employment? An initial answer may be,...
Tag: Unfair Dismissal
New decision may deprive commissioner discretion to refuse legal representation in CCMA and bargaining council arbitration proceedings
A recent landmark decision of the South African Metal and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council could see Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (“CCMA”) commissioners stripped...
Reinstatement: A remedy for unfair dismissal and unfair labour practices
Reinstatement is a remedy used in labour law for unfair dismissal and unfair labour practices.
Court decisions define reinstatement
In terms of the Labour Relations Act, there...
Dead men tell no tales – But can they be reinstated?
It is trite in employment law that reinstatement is the primary remedy for unfair dismissal under the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 as amended...
Less remorse more punishment – NUM obo Vangile v Eskom
National Union of Mineworkers obo Vangile v Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd [2018] 5 BALR 534 (CCMA)
What is an employer to do when it has (i) run an internal disciplinary hearing of one of its employees, (ii) found him/her guilty of the charges and, (iii) when it comes to sanction,…
Provided By Eversheds Sutherland
Sign on the dotted line
Employees wanting to pursue cases for unfair dismissal in either the CCMA or various Bargaining Councils typically kick-start the process by completing and signing the requisite dispute referral forms. While this process has been simplified for the purposes …
Provided By Eversheds Sutherland
Is your workplace “a lonely hearts club?”
In Rustenburg Platinum Mines Limited v UASA obo Steve Pietersen the Labour Court, delivered a scathing judgment wherein it criticised a CCMA commissioner for taking...
Manyi ordered to pay the money – Failure to follow retrenchment proceedings
Labour Court orders DSTV News Channel: Afro Worldview to follow retrenchment procedures after being shut down.
It is well-known that employers are legally obliged to issue...
ConCourt endorses a “rational” war on racism
In the recent judgment of Duncanmec (Pty) Ltd v Gaylard N.O [2018] ZACC 29, the Constitutional Court observed that complaints of racism in the workplace...
The right to religion in the workplace – A careful balance between the right and the employer’s business requirements
South African workplaces are not immune to the winds of change blowing towards the direction of the constitutional project. The essence of this project is...
Work permits, foreign employees and legal incapacity
The law is clear that an employer may not employ a foreigner without a valid work visa. Section 38 of the Immigration Act 13 of...
Is an employee able to avoid a disciplinary hearing or disciplinary sanction by resigning?
It is trite law that employees may resign from their employment, either with immediate effect or on notice, thereby unilaterally terminating the employment relationship. The...
Limiting employment claims: Protection where it is needed
South African labour laws are renowned as being progressive and protective of employees’ rights, and labour dispute resolution procedures are intentionally designed to provide expeditious...
Promotion after dismissal?
The primary remedy for a substantively unfair dismissal is reinstatement, which aims to place an employee into the position he or she would have held...
Consultation during retrenchment – A tale of David and Goliath?
Employers may lawfully terminate an employment relationship on the basis of operational requirements. In terms of s189(1)(a) of the Labour Relations Act, 1995, employers must...
Need to stamp out blatant workplace sexual harassment
A woman security guard working in a Nairobi shopping mall has been awarded damages after the bosses told her colleagues that she had been caught...
Fair selection criteria in retrenchments – Can your employer make you re-apply for your job?
In South Africa an employee’s services can be terminated as a result of his/her misconduct or incapacity or as a result of the employer’s operational...
Bad behaviour at arbitration proceedings will not bar reinstatement
Arbitration proceedings frequently become acrimonious and hostile. The manner in which the proceedings progress, however, will not affect the relief granted by a commissioner. In...
Operational options occasionally open to employers
The recent case of National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) and Aveng Trident Steel (Aveng) has finally (at least for now) settled the...
Theft as a ground for dismissal and the consequences that follow
Introduction
This article examines the appropriateness of the sanction of dismissal of an employee for theft in the workplace, the effect of dismissal of an employee...
