Tag: Labour Law Management Consulting

The law makes it compulsory for employers to consult with the potential retrenchees or with their representatives before deciding to retrench. Despite this, employers often refuse to allow the employees to bring external representatives to the consultation meetings.

The law affords employees the following procedural rights before being dismissed for misconduct or poor performance:

Employers regularly suspend employees from duty. This is done in a variety of circumstances for numerous reasons that may include one form of suspension is a temporary lay-off of employees due to operational circumstances.

The courts have found that the employee is protected by labour law from the moment the employment contract is concluded even if the employee has not yet started work. For example, in the case of Wyeth SA (Pty) Ltd vs Manqele (People Dynamics, September 2003 page 39). Manqele was offered a position by the employer as a sales rep.

Workplace rebellion can bring the company to its knees. The most typical form of rebellion known in South Africa is industrial action. Such rebellion...

In common law employers and employees have the obligation to treat each other fairly and within the law.

Where the employer fails to attend an arbitration hearing the arbitrator is entitled to continue without the employer unless the arbitrator is aware of an acceptable reason for the employer’s absence.

Before making any decision to retrench employers are required to first consult with the union or affected employees on a number of issues, the most important of which is any means of avoiding job losses.

The intolerability of the continuation of the employment relationship can be caused by misconduct other than dishonesty.

Double Jeopardy occurs where an employee is punished twice for the same incident of misconduct. Normally, such discipline would be found to be unfair.