by Ivan Israelstam | Sep 26, 2022 | ARBITRATION, CCMA, Contracts, Corporate, CROSS-EXAMINATION, Disciplinary Codes, Disciplinary Hearing, Dismissal, Employees, EMPLOYERS, HR POLICIES, Labour Court, Labour Law, Labour Law for Employers, Labour Relations Act, Retrenchments
Some time ago I was asked by an employer to assist with preparing for a Labour Court review case. The employer had dismissed the employee for theft, but the CCMA had forced the employer to reinstate him. I was puzzled by the CCMA’s decision because, on discussing the...
by Ivan Israelstam | Sep 19, 2022 | ARBITRATION, CCMA, Contracts, Corporate, CROSS-EXAMINATION, Disciplinary Codes, Disciplinary Hearing, Dismissal, Employees, EMPLOYERS, HR POLICIES, Labour Court, Labour Law, Labour Law for Employers, Labour Relations Act, Retrenchments
South African labour law requires all discipline to be corrective rather than punitive. When an employer disciplines an employee twice for the very same incident of misconduct the CCMA is likely to see this as punitive. It is only under highly exceptional...
by Ivan Israelstam | Sep 12, 2022 | ARBITRATION, CCMA, Contracts, Corporate, CROSS-EXAMINATION, Disciplinary Codes, Disciplinary Hearing, Dismissal, Employees, EMPLOYERS, HR POLICIES, Labour Court, Labour Law, Labour Law for Employers, Labour Relations Act, Retrenchments
South African employers often lose at CCMA and bargaining councils in cases relating to fixed-term contracts. A key reason for this is that employers do not understand the legal purpose of fixed-term contracts and the circumstances under which they are safe to...
by Ivan Israelstam | Sep 6, 2022 | ARBITRATION, CCMA, CONFLICT OF INTERESTS, Corporate, COVID-19, CROSS-EXAMINATION, Disciplinary Codes, Disciplinary Hearing, Dismissal, Employees, EMPLOYERS, HR POLICIES, Labour Court, Labour Law, Labour Law for Employers, Labour Relations Act, Retrenchments
Employees who lodge grievances OR CCMA disputes are too often victimized for exercising their rights. Such victimization often takes the form of dismissals for incompatibility. A case in point is the one of Jabari vs Telkom SA (Pty) Ltd (2006, 10 BLLR 924). Here, the...
by Ivan Israelstam | Aug 23, 2022 | ARBITRATION, CCMA, Corporate, COVID-19, CROSS-EXAMINATION, Disciplinary Codes, Disciplinary Hearing, Dismissal, Employees, EMPLOYERS, HR POLICIES, Labour Court, Labour Law, Labour Law for Employers, Labour Relations Act, Retrenchments
In order to optimise the corrective effect of discipline it needs to be implemented as swiftly as possible. This does not mean that the disciplinary process must be carried out hastily. It does mean that, psychologically and legally, unnecessary delays must be...
by Ivan Israelstam | Aug 19, 2022 | ARBITRATION, CCMA, Corporate, COVID-19, CROSS-EXAMINATION, Disciplinary Codes, Disciplinary Hearing, Dismissal, Employees, EMPLOYERS, HR POLICIES, Labour Court, Labour Law, Labour Law for Employers, Labour Relations Act, Retrenchments
Dismissing employees who have been arrested can be dangerous. It seems obvious to employers that, if an employee is arrested by the police he has ‘dismissed himself’. However, this mistaken belief is born from wishful thinking. Reasons for such wishful thinking may...
by Ivan Israelstam | Aug 8, 2022 | ARBITRATION, CCMA, Corporate, COVID-19, CROSS-EXAMINATION, Disciplinary Codes, Disciplinary Hearing, Dismissal, Employees, EMPLOYERS, HR POLICIES, Labour Court, Labour Law, Labour Law for Employers, Labour Relations Act, Retrenchments
Where businesses and other organisations are unable to get work done by robots, they need to acquire the necessary skills by hiring staff. A key question then arises as to whether the money expended to acquire and retain these employee skills should be seen as an...
by Ivan Israelstam | Aug 3, 2022 | ABSENCE, ARBITRATION, CCMA, Corporate, COVID-19, CROSS-EXAMINATION, Disciplinary Codes, Disciplinary Hearing, Dismissal, Employees, EMPLOYERS, HR POLICIES, Labour Court, Labour Law, Labour Law for Employers, Labour Relations Act, Retrenchments
Ensure that the rights of absent employees are adhered to before dismissing The law considers absenteeism over short periods (a day or two) without leave or without good reason as minor misconduct. However, when even short periods of absence become the norm amongst a...
by Ivan Israelstam | Jul 25, 2022 | ARBITRATION, CCMA, Corporate, COVID-19, CROSS-EXAMINATION, Disciplinary Codes, Disciplinary Hearing, Dismissal, Employees, EMPLOYERS, HR POLICIES, Labour Court, Labour Law, Labour Law for Employers, Labour Relations Act, Retrenchments
South Africa’s Constitution gives all accused persons the right to defend themselves. Cross examination is a key tool used for this purpose. It is used universally in courts and tribunals and gives an accused the opportunity to challenge his/her accusers. However, it...
by Ivan Israelstam | Jul 18, 2022 | ARBITRATION, CCMA, Corporate, COVID-19, Disciplinary Codes, Disciplinary Hearing, Dismissal, Employees, EMPLOYERS, HR POLICIES, Labour Court, Labour Law, Labour Law for Employers, Labour Relations Act, Retrenchments
The Code of Good Practice: Dismissal (the Code) in Schedule 8 of the Labour Relations Act (LRA) has been, in effect, provided for in section 188 (2) in Chapter 8 of the LRA. This chapter provides for this Code as part of its purpose of ensuring that employers accede...
