Purpose: Section 73A of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (“BCEA”) confers jurisdiction on the CCMA to conciliate and arbitrate disputes in which employees earning below the prescribed threshold may claim monies owing to them in terms of the National Minimum Wage Act, the BCEA, a collective agreement, a sectoral determination or contract of employment. [...]
This has been a difficult year for everyone and now more than ever, employers are struggling to not only maintain their staff compliment but pay staff additional extras such as bonuses. The payment of bonuses, especially the 13th cheque or year-end bonuses, has always been quite a controversial issue because the majority of employees assume [...]
As the festive season fast approaches it is important that employers are fully informed of all issues relating to annual leave. Issues surrounding annual leave tend to become more common during this time. The conclusion of an employment contract creates reciprocal rights and obligations between employer and employee and the parties to an employment [...]
Employers often include a “Restraint of Trade” clause in an employment contract, and it happens, from time to time, that employers appoint employees who are still bound to a “Restraint of Trade” clause from a previous employment relationship. The question however is, how enforceable are these clauses? As a point of departure, let us [...]
What should employers know regarding the position of a "casual labourer" in South Africa? Firstly, it is important to determine what a "casual labourer" is and if "casual labourers" still exist. Prior to the amendments of the Basic Conditions of Employment (BCEA) of 1983, the act referred to casual labourers as those who worked [...]
Section 186(2) of the Labour Relations Act (LRA) provides a list of instances when an unfair labour practice could arise between an employer and employee. One of these instances refers to ‘the failure or refusal by an employer to reinstate or re-employ a former employee in terms of any agreement’. This type of unfair [...]
Employers are often faced with employees who have aged and struggle to maintain the standard of work that they once performed. Though this is no fault of the employee, as ageing is a natural occurrence in the lives of each and every person, it may still have a negative impact on the productivity of an [...]
No one could have anticipated what the year 2020 held in store, not to mention the Covid-19 pandemic. As we draw to the end of the year, the common practice of bonus season arrives. With a struggling financial year for most, employees may not receive any bonuses this year. Even though it sounds unreasonable to [...]
A resignation in terms of South African law is described as a unilateral termination of a contract of employment by an employee. In some instances, employees elect to resign when a better position becomes available, family responsibilities change or when an employee wishes to pursue another career opportunity altogether. In other instances, employees elect [...]
Everyone has the right to fair labour practices. This right is enshrined in Section 23 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 and entrenched in section 185(b) of the Labour Relations Act 66 OF 1995 (hereinafter "LRA"), provides that every employee has the right not to be subjected to an unfair labour [...]