It is settled law that a union can call a strike or embark on industrial action if there is a dispute regarding matters of mutual interest. Many employers, however, raise the question of whether their employees desire to embark on industrial action at the expense of losing their wages. As much as this is a [...]
Section 14 of the BCEA (Basic Conditions of Employment Act) stipulates as follows: An Employer must give an Employee who works continuously for more than five (5) hours a meal interval of at least one (1) continuous hour. During a meal interval, an Employee may be required or permitted to perform only duties that cannot [...]
Negotiations between the employer and Trade Unions are never straightforward. Whether negotiations relate to wages, collective agreements, bonuses, or allowances, finding common ground is generally a tense and lengthy affair. The main aim of negotiation is to resolve the dispute between the parties amicably. The preferred outcome is the opportunity to resolve the dispute at [...]
In certain industries, such as hospitality, retail sector, estate agents and financial advisory, commission is an important component of the payment structure of these employees. In the calculation of the employee's remuneration, on more than one occasion, the question arose if the commission forms part of the calculation to comply with the National Minimum Wage [...]
South Africa is known as the rainbow nation with eleven (11) official languages and more than fifteen (15) different cultures. This combination of diversified individuals often causes tension and conflict between the employer and employees in the workplace. In the recent matter of Toyota South-Africa Motors (PTY) Ltd v NUMSA obo Njilo and Others (D692/19) [...]
Section 64 of the Labour Relations Act (the “LRA”) regulates the right to strike and recourse to lock-out. In terms of Section 64(1), every employee has the right to strike, and every employer has recourse to lock-out if the issue in dispute has been referred to a council or the Commission as required by the [...]
The Rules for the Conduct of Proceedings before the CCMA (“the Rules”) govern the processes of the CCMA and accordingly apply to Bargaining Councils. As such, the issue of representation has been one of contention over the years. The CCMA is a more informal process than a Court and is generally geared toward resolving matters [...]
While the topic of demarcation disputes can sometimes seem as if they are shrouded as an enigma and can be rather technical in nature, the purpose of this article is to provide a concise and practical understanding of demarcation disputes as well as how an employer goes about referring a demarcation dispute. The CCMA defines [...]
Many a time when employers settle their disputes in the CCMA, either during conciliation or arbitration and the decision is made that the employee returns to work, a critical distinction to be considered carefully is whether the employee returns as a new employee or on the terms and conditions of their previously terminated employment, as [...]
Organisational rights are the umbrella term for several rights conferred by trade unions. These rights can include the right to hold meetings, the right to deduct union levies and the right to have access to the employer's premises, to name a few. These rights can be found in sections 12 to 16 of the Labour [...]