Tag: Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA)

Uber drivers are currently classified as independent contractors in South Africa, but there are plans to launch a class action to compel Uber SA to confer several key rights on its drivers, which, if successful, will affect the rights of platform workers.

Either party can take a CCMA arbitrator’s conduct on review to the Labour Court if they are able to prove that the arbitrator, in making his/her award, has materially broken a rule. This is different to an appeal because an appeal is lodged, not against the arbitrator’s conduct, but rather against his/her decision.

The Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) is receiving record numbers of retrenchment referrals, thanks to the pandemic. CCMA received 28,000 retrenchment cases from May to June 2020 during the lockdown.

The Broadcasting Electronic Media and Allied Workers' Union (BEMAWU) recently launched an urgent application in the Labour Court interdicting the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SOC) Ltd (SABC) from proceeding with retrenchment processes and forcing the SABC to adhere to fair consultation processes [BEMAWU & Others v SABC & Others, in the Labour Court of South Africa, Johannesburg, Case Number J1199/20]. 

​​​​​​In a recent judgment, Gold One Limited v Madalani and Others (JR 1109/15) [2020] ZALCJHB 180 (9 September 2020), the Labour Court confirmed that intolerability is a high threshold in constructive dismissal matters. Intolerability is more than a working environment or working under employment conditions that are difficult, unpleasant or stressful.

The issue is whether an essential service in terms of the Disaster Management Act (DMA) is deemed an essential service for the purposes of the Labour Relations Act (LRA), thus barring employees from engaging in protected strike action.

The issue is whether an employer may utilise Zoom when conducting consultations in a retrenchment exercise. If not, does the continuation of the consultations in such circumstances result in procedural unfairness? The Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 (LRA) does not regulate how section 189 consultations are to be held (i.e. in person or via video conference).

The pandemic brought with it a slew of realisations for business owners, one such an epiphany is how most organisations need fewer employees to remain functional. But using COVID-19 as a reason for retrenching a surplus of employees constitutes as unfair dismissal.

The law prohibits employers from disciplining employees who are ill or disabled. The Employment Equity Act prohibits unfair discrimination against employees on the grounds of illness. Section 187(1)(f) of the Labour Relations Act  (LRA) renders automatically unfair a dismissal implemented due to the employee’s illness.

With the daily COVID-19 infection rate in South Africa increasing rapidly, many employees are having second thoughts on whether they should be returning to an office environment. This may occur when circumstances may arise where refusing to work is believed to be the only safe option available.