by Ivan Israelstam | Aug 14, 2020 | Labour Law, POPI ACT, POPI Compliant, Tools
South Africa’s Constitution gives every person the right to privacy and requires that legislation be promulgated to implement this right. As a result, the Protection of Personal Information Act of 2013 (POPI) was drawn up but did not come into effect for seven years...
by Ivan Israelstam | Jul 31, 2020 | Contracts, Labour Law for Employers, Labour Relations Act, Labour Unions South Africa, Strikes
The loss of production and of customers is usually the first consequence of a strike. However, indirect strike costs incurred later can be just as serious. In the case of NUM and others vs Chrober Slate (Pty) Ltd (2008, 3 BLLR 287) the mine dismissed its quarry...
by Ivan Israelstam | Jul 24, 2020 | CCMA, Illegal Workers, Labour Court, Labour Law, Labour Relations Act, Unfair Dismissals
Lack of awareness of Constitutional and labour law protections of employees from foreign countries has prompted many employers to mistreat illegally employed staff. That is, employers have paid illegal immigrants low wages, deprived them of employee benefits and have...
by Ivan Israelstam | Jul 13, 2020 | CCMA, Labour Court, Labour Relations Act, Sexual Harassment, Unfair Dismissals
In the case of Maepe vs Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration & another (CLL Vol. 17 June 2008) a senior commissioner at the CCMA was brought to a disciplinary hearing on charges of sexual harassment and improper or disgraceful conduct. A CCMA...
by Ivan Israelstam | Jul 2, 2020 | CCMA, Labour Court, Labour Law for Employers, Labour Relations Act, Unfair Dismissals
In addition to Corona it is cold and flu season resulting in work falling behind just when businesses are trying to recover from the lockdown. The challenge for employers is to distinguish the genuine cases of illness from those where employees are just sick of...
by Ivan Israelstam | Jun 18, 2020 | CCMA, COVID-19, Labour Court, Labour Law for Employers
A while ago I received a panic phone call from an employer who had received an unfavourable arbitration award in respect of a CCMA case they never knew existed. That is, the employer had never received a summons to appear at the CCMA. The award required the employer...
by Ivan Israelstam | Jun 8, 2020 | CCMA, Labour Brokers, Labour Court, Labour Law, Labour Law for Employers, Labour Relations Act
Employers use alternative and temporary labour sources for numerous reasons including: Permanent employees are away on annual leave, sick leave, maternity leave or other leave and the remaining staff cannot cope with all the work Work volumes have increased...
by Ivan Israelstam | May 22, 2020 | COVID-19, Disciplinary Hearing, Labour Court, Labour Law, Labour Relations Act
Item 4(1) of the Code of Good Practice: Dismissal (the Code) attached to the Labour Relations Act (LRA) states, in effect, that the employer should conduct an investigation and allow the employee to state a case in response to disciplinary allegations as part of the...
by Ivan Israelstam | May 11, 2020 | COVID-19, Employees, Labour Law for Employers, Labour Relations Act, Tools
Since 1995 the Labour Relations Act (LRA) and Basic Conditions of Employment Act have been replaced with entirely new versions. However, as large as this body of legislation is it often falls short when it comes to detail. For example, the LRA requires employers to...
by Ivan Israelstam | Apr 27, 2020 | Labour Law, Labour Law for Employers, Retrenchments, Tools
It is understandable that business owners feel panicky because of the toll Corona is taking on business income. However, most businesses realise that if they implement wholesale retrenchments, they will not only lose valuable skills but will also reduce the buying...
