Tag: Werksmans Attorneys
Full bench court ruling on payment of Prescribed Minimum Benefits
In the case of Keyhealth Medical Scheme v the Honourable Mr Justice SM Ngoepe N.O, the Registrar of Medical Schemes and William Reed, Case Number: A203/2021, a full bench of the Pretoria High Court held that prescribed minimum benefits (PMBs) must not be paid from a member's personal medical savings but must be paid from the medical scheme's PMB risk pool.
Whistleblowing in South Africa – what are employers’ obligations?
Whistleblowing is an important tool in identifying, preventing and eradicating criminal conduct, irregular activities, and other improprieties in both the public and private sectors.
Offers of employment – don’t take risks
Employers are reminded to avoid providing offers of employment if the relevant recruitment processes or details of a vacant post have not been finalised as a valid employment agreement may still be created and enforced through offer and acceptance.
Resignation terminates contract of employment and cannot be withdrawn
Once an employee has resigned the employee cannot withdraw the resignation unless the employer consents thereto. This consent must be given prior to the expiry of the employee’s notice period when the resignation becomes effective, failing which a fresh agreement of employment will have to be concluded.
Employee privacy risk potholes to avoid
Employees are expected to remember and adhere to numerous policies, including privacy policies. Poster campaigns are rolled out to reinforce positive behaviour and still when we consider data breaches it is often unbelievable how the mistake that resulted in the breach could have possibly occurred.
Not every crime is a cybercrime – the contrast between cyber-enabled...
The global adoption of digital technology is rapidly increasing, which has caused an evolution in criminal behaviour resulting in the increased occurrence of cyberattacks on businesses and individuals respectively.
You can be fired for not reporting suspicious conduct of colleagues
The dismissal of an employee who failed to report the suspicious conduct of her colleague, in relation to missing monies, was found to be substantively fair. The failure of the employee to inform an employer of their business interests being improperly undermined, constitutes derivative misconduct for which dismissal may be afforded.
Illegal mining, the ‘zama zamas’ and the law
Illegal mining is a critical challenge in the South African mining and minerals industry. The South African government previously recognised the potential of small scale mining operations to increase the portfolio of minerals being produced and possibly lead to the exploitation of resources that would otherwise be sterilised.
The current state of IP law – is it fit for...
South African intellectual property (IP) legislation includes the Trademarks Act, Patents Act, Designs Act, Copyright Act and Plant Breeder's Rights Act. Each piece of legislation dealing with the particular IP right concerned, but is it all fit for purpose?
CCMA speaks again on mandatory vaccination policies
Hot off the heels of a number of awards by the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) which upheld mandatory vaccination policies in the workplace, the CCMA has recently declared mandatory vaccination policies to be unconstitutional.
