Tag: employee rights

When provident fund contributions are not paid, it is the beneficiaries who suffer the most. A reconsideration application before the Financial Services Tribunal confirmed that employers remain bound to honour their obligations. This applies regardless of the probationary status of employees or any transfer of business.

In Mqikela vs Pristo Response Trading, the South African Labour Court found that a supposed retrenchment had masked the real reason for dismissal. The employee had referred an unfair labour practice (ULP) dispute to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA). This case exemplifies an automatic dismissal due to ULP.

Having a financial safety net in place through employee benefits can provide some much-needed reassurance that you and your family are protected if the worst happens. But, did you know there’s more to consider when looking into employee benefit plans other than what is offered?

Tattoo discrimination is a very real problem in South African business, but do organisations have an inkpot to stand on? People with tattoos often face discrimination. They’ve been dismissed from their company, had their roles changed – or struggled to get a promotion – and they’ve been judged on the basis of their ink.

The Labour Appeal Court recently issued an order refusing to grant leave to appeal against the judgment of the Labour Court, after the Labour Court reinstated an employee who was dismissed for voicing her dissatisfaction with the company’s policy on wearing high-heeled shoes on mine premises.

Lockdown rendered many things impossible, among them the ability for unions to 'show up' for their members in what has traditionally been the status quo for negotiation in South Africa: the organised strike. In many countries across the globe and particularly in South Africa, the ability to organise a strike is where a union best demonstrates its strength.

On Friday, 11 June 2021, the Department of Employment and Labour issued an updated Occupational Health and Safety Directive which, among other things, expressly permits an employer to implement a mandatory workplace vaccination policy subject to specific guidelines.

The globe is on lockdown at the moment as we all face the COVID-19 pandemic, and this is a time which is creating a lot of fear, anxiety and uncertainty in the workplace. It is not just with people now having to work from home, but for those who have pursued new job opportunities and received job offers to start during or after lockdown, and now face a highly unnerving state of anxiety about if they will start or not or if their offers will be withdrawn or if they should even hand in their resignations.

The recent fire which broke out in a government building in central Johannesburg lead to the tragic loss of lives of three firefighters who were attempting to put out the blaze. The lives, and health of safety of employees working in the building were also put at risk.

Advocate Tertius Wessels | Legal Manager | Strata-G Labour Solutions | info@strata-g.co.za | www.strata-g.co.za  | The resignation of KPMG’s CEO and other senior executive and board members,...