In the recent Labour Appeal Court case of Tshabalala v Moqhaka Local Municipality and Another (JA88/2024) [2024] ZALAC 60 (21 November 2024), a municipal manager (the employee) at Moqhaka Local Municipality (the employer) was suspended on the 1st of March 2024, due to alleged misconduct. After receiving the notice to attend a disciplinary hearing on [...]
It has become quite common in arbitration proceedings that the Applicant would raise the point that the trust relationship between the employer and employee had not been irretrievably broken insofar as the employer did not suspend the employee prior to the dismissal process. This can result in Commissioners making rulings without fully appreciating the nature [...]
Short-time work and lay-off can be considered an alternative to retrenchment; this became more prevalent since the Covid-19 pandemic when employers were forced to re-evaluate their business operations, some still recovering three years later, with the added strain of load-shedding. South Africa experienced load-shedding for over two hundred days in 2023 alone, with only one [...]
In the recent case of Moraka / Road Accident Fund (2023), 32 CCMA 6.7.4 also reported at [2023] 7 BALR 786 (CCMA), it was determined that although the employee was suspended and their performance could not be evaluated, that did not mean they were automatically entitled to a performance bonus. The Applicant was a [...]
Werkgewers behou die reg om een van twee tipes skorsings op te lê, mits die regte prosedure ten opsigte daarvan gevolg word. Sou daar versuim word om die regte prosedure te volg mag ‘n werkgewer moonlik skuldig bevind word van ‘n onbillike arbeidspraktyk deur die Kommissie van Versoening, Bemiddeling en Arbitrasie. Ingevolge Artikel 186 [...]
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 [...]
Suspension in the workplace may be of two kinds, namely; suspension of an employee imposed as a precautionary measure pending disciplinary action or as a form of disciplinary penalty. Section 186(2) of the Labour Relations Act states: “unfair labour practice means any unfair act or omission that arises between an employer and an employee. [...]
The unfair suspension of an employee or any other unfair disciplinary action short of dismissal in respect of an employee. As section 186(2)(b) refers to suspension together with ‘any other unfair disciplinary action short of dismissal’, it clearly includes both categories. (1) Pending a disciplinary hearing, and (2) Disciplinary action short of dismissal, as a [...]