Tag: labour law

In a recent landmark ruling, the Labour Court's decision in the case of Connor v Lexisnexis (Pty) Ltd (P18/24) [2024] ZALCPE 11 sheds light on the evolving stance towards employing individuals with a criminal record. The court's acceptance of the employee's claim for unfair discrimination underscores a fundamental shift in perspective, advocating for fairness and inclusivity in the workplace.

The South African courts have by and large, consistently upheld an employer’s right to restrain an employee form unfairly competing with a former employer where certain conditions have been met. These include the employer being able to show a protectable interest and a properly drafted restraint.

If jobseekers in South Africa currently had the right to freely enter voluntary contracts with employers at wages and on conditions acceptable to both parties, the country would not have mass unemployment. Figures recently released by Statistics SA confirm the statement by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) that at 29.8 percent South Africa had the highest unemployment rate in the world. At 4.9 percent the USA had the lowest rate.

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.

South Africa’s labour-law regime is difficult, if not impossible, for small businesses to comply with. It imposes a relatively higher cost on them than on large firms. This leads to fewer people employed in small businesses, and often leads to small businesses not being formalised and therefore certainly not complying with the law.

According to the Global Peace Index for 2020 by the Institute of Economics and Peace (IEP), violence costs South Africa about 13% of its gross domestic product (GDP) per year. South Africa ranks as the 26th most costly in the world, totalling $97.4 billion, or $1,971 per capita (in PPP terms).

By steadfastly sticking to the policy of a mandatory minimum wage, government seems to glorify the demonstrably provable socioeconomic destructive consequences. These will be further exacerbated by the unemployment catastrophe that is unfolding before our eyes.

Statistics South Africa has published the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QFLS) for Q3 2021, showing how continued lockdown restrictions, load shedding, and the July riots impacted jobs in the country. The results show that the number of employed persons decreased by 660,000 in the third quarter of 2021 to 14.3 million.

Now in its second revised edition, Labour Law in Practice has sold over 10,000 copies and has helped numerous South African managers and business owners navigate their way safely through what sometimes seems to be an impenetrable maze of labour law and practice.

An interview with Ivan Israelstam, Chief Executive, Labour Law Management Consulting, and Dr Ivor Blumenthal, CEO, ArkKonsult, discussing whether 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 their award, has materially broken a rule.