Employers: Beware the “Casual Worker” Myth!

Employers: Beware the “Casual Worker” Myth!

Employees in South Africa enjoy strong protections under a raft of laws such as the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA), the Labour Relations Act (LRA) and the Employment Equity Act (EEA). Failure to comply with these Acts, whilst perhaps tempting to many employers struggling financially in these hard times, is not only unfair to employees (many of whom are in equally dire straits), but also an extremely risky business from a legal perspective. The CCMA (Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration) and our courts take a dim view of employers flouting these laws, and offenders will pay heavily for…
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Employees: Your New Rights to Paternity and Parental Leave

Employees: Your New Rights to Paternity and Parental Leave

The concept of “maternity leave” has been around in our law for a long time, and the journey towards extending the concept to employees other than mothers has been a long one, marked latterly by much delay and confusion over implementation of new legislation addressing the issue. Last year in particular employers and employees were left scratching their heads over questions such as: When will fathers and same-sex partners be entitled to parental leave? What about adoptive parents and commissioning parents in a surrogacy agreement? Is there a right to paid leave, or just to unpaid leave? And if unpaid,…
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Employer v Employee: Can You Use Evidence Obtained under Threat of Prosecution?

Employer v Employee: Can You Use Evidence Obtained under Threat of Prosecution?

When we hear of employers and employees at loggerheads with each other in our court system, we normally think of labour disputes – strikes, disciplinary hearings, unfair dismissals and the like. But at times such disputes end up in our normal civil courts, dealing with issues which potentially apply to all civil claims.  An interesting SCA (Supreme Court of Appeal) case Hohne v Super Store Mining (Pty) Ltd (831/2016) [2016] ZASCA 186; [2017] 1 All SA 681 (SCA); 2017 (3) SA 45 (SCA) provides a good example. An accused diamond thief sued for R6m A business which processes mine dumps…
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Employees: Must you report wrongdoers? A violent strike illustrates

Employees: Must you report wrongdoers? A violent strike illustrates

“…an employee bound implicitly by a duty of good faith towards the employer breaches that duty by remaining silent about knowledge possessed by the employee regarding the business interests of the employer being improperly undermined”  (Extract from judgment below) Our laws and courts provide strong protection for the right of employees to go on strike, and are quick to shield participants in a protected strike from any unlawful action against them by their employers. But this is subject to the important provision that strikers (and their unions) must always act within the law, which includes the fundamental requirement that strike…
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Employees: Are your social media posts private?

Employees: Are your social media posts private?

“Privacy, like other rights, is not absolute” (extract from judgment below) Our courts have made it clear that posting derogatory or damaging comments about your employer or colleagues on social media can amount to misconduct and result in disciplinary action, perhaps even dismissal. A recent High Court decision of Harvey v Niland and Others (5021/2015) [2015] ZAECGHC 149, although it concerned a members’ dispute rather than a disciplinary action, highlights a particular danger in this regard: Your Social Media posts aren’t necessarily as private and hidden from your employer’s prying eyes as you think they are. A hunter hunted -…
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Employers:  Is your zero tolerance policy enforceable?

Employers: Is your zero tolerance policy enforceable?

A recent Labour Appeal Court (LAC) judgment demystifies the issues surrounding how far an employer can go to protect itself from employee misconduct with “zero tolerance” policies. The supermarket, the supervisor, and the undeclared deodorant A supermarket chain, attempting to curb employee theft in its store, imposed a zero tolerance policy requiring employees, on entering the store, to declare any goods (except those clearly not store property). A supermarket chain, attempting to curb employee theft in its store, imposed a zero tolerance policy requiring employees, on entering the store, to declare any goods (except those clearly not store property). Employer…
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Family Responsibility Leave – Your FAQs

When can an employee take fully-paid leave to deal with family matters and not have it deducted from his/her annual leave entitlement?  This is often a source of confusion for both employers and employees, but it needn’t be.  The BCEA (Basic Conditions of Employment Act) sets everything out clearly, although note that some employers grant more favourable terms than the statutory minimums, either in their discretion or in terms of a “collective agreement” with a trade union. (more…)
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