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 are driven to make their businesses a success. However, they cannot conduct the work alone and must rely on employees to conduct themselves in line with the values and principles of the company. When an employer suspects an employee has committed serious misconduct, it is very important to ensure that a thorough investigation and [...]
Many employers may have heard about the Skills Development Act of 2003, understanding that it is legislation impacting on the employment relationship. However, very few have an understanding of what this concept entails. Successful business owners may know that training plays a pivotal part in the success of their enterprises. It is therefore advisable that [...]
Employers have a duty to uphold an employee’s privacy regarding his or her health. At first glance, the duty to protect an employee’s private information is not problematic, however, the current regulations relating to Covid-19 has complicated the issue. Employers are faced with the challenge of balancing an employee’s right to privacy concerning his or [...]
Dear CEO Members, The NBCRFLI is pleased to inform the industry that on 07 May 2020 it has considered further to utilise the Leave Pay Fund as an additional temporary measure to assist the industry in order to mitigate the further negative impact of the lockdown and Covid-19. The Leave Pay benefit will apply as [...]
In recent times there have been many amendments to our labour laws regarding fixed-term contracts and temporary employment services. Employers can fix an employee’s employment period by stating that the individual is employed for a specific period of time or for a specific project. Should an employer require the fixed-term employee to work for [...]
The word ‘absconding’ can best be described as an employee who has the intention to never return to work. In this instance, the employer has an obligation to first establish if the employee does not have an intention to return to work before dismissing the employee. The employer will not know whether the employee has [...]
The question of whether an employee is entitled to severance pay usually arises once a retrenchment has been concluded and there is a dispute referred to the CCMA or a Bargaining Council. An arbitrator dealing with this dispute may only decide whether the employee is entitled to the severance pay, which is a statutory entitlement. [...]
Commissioners are entitled to conduct arbitration hearings in a manner that they consider appropriate in order to determine a dispute before them fairly and expeditiously. Section 138 of the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 stipulates that the commissioner can use his/her discretion as to the manner in which he/she would like to conduct [...]