by Ivan Israelstam | Mar 30, 2021 | CCMA, Labour Law, Labour Relations Act, Unfair Dismissals, Unfair Suspensions
In criminal law an accused may be found guilty of, and punished for wrongful behaviour, only if that behaviour contravenes a law written into a statute. That is, punishable behaviour is confined to that behaviour specifically prohibited in black and white in one...
by Ivan Israelstam | Mar 24, 2021 | Disciplinary Hearing, Labour Law, PRE-ARBITRATION
One of the key pieces of information in a notice summoning you to a labour dispute forum, is the type of process you are being summoned to attend. This may be a conciliation, a con-arb or an arbitration. Should it be a con-arb or arbitration you will need to prepare...
by Ivan Israelstam | Mar 17, 2021 | CCMA, Labour Court, Labour Law, Labour Law for Employers, Labour Relations Act, Retrenchments, Unfair Dismissals
There has been an alarming increase in the number of calls we have received from employers who have retrenched employees and are being taken to the CCMA, bargaining council or Labour Court. With the effect of the Covid lockdown, the uncertainty of the international...
by Ivan Israelstam | Mar 9, 2021 | CCMA, Labour Court, Labour Law for Employers, Labour Relations Act, MISUNDERSTAND LEGAL TERMS
The legal term ‘prejudice’ has caused some confusion amongst employers and employees because it can be used in several different ways. In fact, the word ‘prejudice’ has four different meanings. In particular, all employers need to understand these meanings in the...
by Ivan Israelstam | Feb 26, 2021 | COVID-19, Productivity
In one of my recent articles, I touched on the issue of productivity at the workplace. I mentioned that, now more than ever, businesses and their employees need to team up to ensure that the business and its people survive and prosper during and post Covid. The meagre...
by Ivan Israelstam | Feb 19, 2021 | CCMA, COVID-19, Employees, Labour Law, Labour Law for Employers, Labour Relations Act, Remote Working
The most frequent question I am asked is, “How do we productively manage employees working from home?” This question is not only important during the lockdown. It will also be crucial post lockdown because the working from home trend will, in many cases, continue...
by Ivan Israelstam | Feb 12, 2021 | CCMA, CON-ARB, Employees, Labour Law, Labour Law for Employers, Labour Relations Act
Employers and employees need to look very carefully at notices to attend the CCMA in order to see what type of process has been set down. No party wants to arrive at CCMA thinking that they will only be facing only a mediation process and then find that the court case...
by Ivan Israelstam | Feb 1, 2021 | CCMA, Employees, Labour Court, Labour Law, Labour Law for Employers, Tools
South African labour legislation gives employees very strong rights including the right to join trade unions, go on strike, have a fair disciplinary hearing, protection from unfair demotions, be promoted under certain circumstances, minimum wages in many cases, sick...
by Ivan Israelstam | Jan 31, 2021 | COVID-19, Employees, Labour Law, Labour Law for Employers, Vaccination
Twenty-twenty was a year of terror at workplaces because of the physical and financial dangers posed by Covid-19. Due to the fact that the roll out of the vaccine will be slow we can expect 2021 to be as terrifying as was 2020, if not even more so. This is because...
by Ivan Israelstam | Jan 18, 2021 | CCMA, Labour Court, Labour Law, Labour Relations Act
The concept of reasonableness has a strong subjective element. For instance, a salary increase of 50 % might seem reasonable to me if I have been earning a lot less than my colleagues. However, if my employer does not want to set a precedent of giving 50% increases...
