Human Capital

South African employers report conservative hiring plans for the second quarter of 2019. With 12% of employers expecting to increase payrolls, 6% forecasting a decrease and 80% anticipating no change, once the data is adjusted to allow for seasonal variation the Outlook stands at +5%.

Dereliction of duty is a charge that is tempting for employers to use especially when they are angry with the employee concerned.

Improving female participation in work across the OECD could boost total GDP by US$6 trillion, according to a new report released by PwC. Analysing the representation and welfare of women in the world of work across 33 OECD countries, PwC’s latest Women in Work Index also finds that the OECD could gain US$2 trillion by closing the gender pay gap.

The world of business is changing quickly, and with trends like the gig economy, global employment and cross-border collaboration on the rise, you can imagine the scale of regulatory and legislative changes taking place. It should be obvious, then, how important having an agile, cloud-based payroll and HR management tool is.

The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) has challenged the inclusivity of the Section 189(1) provisions of the Labour Relations Act, arguing retrenchments are so important that everyone needs to be consulted individually. But in our view, Section 189(1) is the most practical solution and in line with the principle of majoritarianism that runs throughout SA law.

On 13 February 2019, the Minister of the Department of Public Services and Administration in South Africa (the Department) released a media statement, causing some unease amongst the general public.

For many years, asylum seekers attempting to claim benefits from the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) have routinely been turned away by the Department of Labour, despite having made contributions to the Fund during their employment.

Very often, an employee is suspended while an investigation is conducted into allegations of misconduct, or pending the holding and outcome of a disciplinary hearing. South African labour laws do not require such a suspension to be anything more than 'fair', and there is no minimum or maximum time period within which the investigation must be concluded, or in which the enquiry process finalised. However, since the suspension of an employee can be challenged as an unfair labour practice, the courts and CCMA often have to deal with challenges to an employee having been suspended.

Following from the October/November 2018 cover story of BusinessBrief - Politics and Unions: Is workplace disruption for political gain criminal? and the footnote contained in the article, the Labour Court gave a detailed judgement on the issue.

The issue arose as to whether the dismissal of an employee who refused to work contractually agreed upon days due to the tenets of her religious convictions was automatically unfair?