A contract of employment commences once both parties have agreed on the essential terms of the offer. Put differently, the contract is complete, or perfecta, once the employee has accepted the offer of employment made by the employer. Unless the provisions of the contract provide otherwise, neither party may unilaterally vary the terms of the [...]
The primary purpose of concluding a written contract of employment is to create certainty as to the parties’ respective rights and responsibilities. Expressly defining and explaining the terms and conditions of employment will go a long way in assisting both parties in understanding the terms to which they are agreeing. Although a well-drafted employment contract [...]
At common law, parties to an employment relationship are not required to observe any formalities when concluding contracts of employment. The contract arises when there is an unconditional acceptance, by the employee, of the employer’s offer. Therefore, once either a tacit (the employee commences employment after receiving the offer) or express (the employee communicates written [...]
Section 213 of the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 define an employee as: “(a) any person, excluding an independent contractor, who works for another person or for the state and who receives, or is entitled to receive, any remuneration; and (b) any other person who in any manner assist in carrying out or conducting [...]
S41 (2) of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) provides that "an employer must pay an employee who is dismissed for reasons based on the operational requirements or whose contract of employment terminates or is terminated in terms of S38 of the Insolvency Act, severance pay equal to at least one week's remuneration for [...]
There is currently no specific law that provides at what age an employee must retire. The ordinary retirement age is usually between 60 to 65 years. An employee cannot be forced to retire unless their employment contract has a specified age which indicates when they must retire, or a rule contained in the workplace which [...]
INTRODUCTION The first good step in ensuring that employment contracts are not in contravention of the provisions of the Basic Condition of Employment Act (BCEA) is to consider section 29 of the BCEA, which essentially sets out the minimum particulars that must be in writing prior to an employee's first day of commencing employment. [...]
It often happens that companies make use of independent contractors to render certain services for the company and although the company never intended such persons to be employees, they may still be regarded as employees. Companies often enter into “independent contractor” agreements with third parties for the rendering of certain services and are under [...]
Introduction Section 69 and Section 73 of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act make provisions for parties to a statutory wage dispute to refer such dispute for determination by an arbitrator. While both processes involve claims for alleged outstanding money and the outcome of both is the same insofar as the Arbitrator will make [...]
Often employees will appeal their sanction internally after being dismissed. How does an employer determinate when the date of dismissal is? Will it be on the date that the employer informs the employee of their dismissal, or when the outcome of the appeal is served on the employee? In terms of section 190(1), "the [...]