Tag: unfair dismissal

The Code Of Good Practice On The Protection Of Employees During Pregnancy And After The Birth Of A Child (The Code) is aimed at protecting pregnant and post-pregnant employees, and obliges employers to implement a series of appropriate measures to protect pregnant or breast-feeding employees from hazards at the workplace.

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.

An employer may dismiss an employee if he or she has lodged a grievance against another employee which is false. Dismissing an employee for doing so does not amount to an automatically unfair dismissal because the lodging of a grievance is not the same as exercising a right conferred by law.

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.

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lockdown, and now face a highly unnerving state of anxiety about if they will start or not or if their offers will be withdrawn or if they should even hand in their resignations.

A recent case decided by the South African High Court has examined the curious interplay of an employee's rights as they arise from both the written contract of employment and, at the same time, labour legislation. Although the judgment may at first seem confusing, a careful analysis of its outcome sheds light on how these parallel sources of the parties rights and obligations operate in conjunction.

Employees engaged in strike action who carry dangerous weapons during a strike run the risk of dismissal. The act of carrying weapons exposes others to the risk of injury and also serves to threaten and intimidate others. This kind of conduct is not protected by the right to strike.

Did you know that your beliefs may be protected by labour laws? But how far do these protections extend – would you be protected for climate change denialism, veganism or being a flat earther?

Ivan Israelstam | Chief Executive | Labour Law Management Consulting | mail me | South African statutory and case law provides heavy protections for employees. For...

In the case of Moloi vs Quthing Construction and Developers CK (2007, 8 BALR 720) the accused was given a final warning after he had been repeatedly late for work and had displayed a ‘negative attitude’.