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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Equal Pay for Equal Work – Can You Differentiate Without Unfairly Discriminating?

Equal Pay for Equal Work – Can You Differentiate Without Unfairly Discriminating?

Our employment laws and labour courts come down heavily on any unfair discrimination in the workplace, but it’s not always easy to decide whether “differentiation” between employees is or is not “unfair discrimination”. Take for instance a recent Labour Court case where a black female employee complained to the CCMA (Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration) about the higher salary paid to her white male colleague. They were both employed as “surveillance auditors” in a casino with the same job descriptions, doing the same work on a daily basis, graded at the same level, and reporting to the same surveillance…
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“You’re Fired for Misconduct” v “No, I Resign” – Who Wins?

“You’re Fired for Misconduct” v “No, I Resign” – Who Wins?

You want to charge one of your employees with serious misconduct so you institute disciplinary proceedings. To avoid a possible dismissal the employee resigns “with immediate effect”. Can you go ahead with disciplining the employee? Until recently the answer was no, the Labour Court having decided in such a matter that immediate resignation brings an end to the employment relationship and puts the employee beyond your reach. Employers will be relieved to know that a new Labour Court decision in Coetzee v Zeitz Mocaa Foundation Trust and Another (C517/2018) [2018] ZALCCT 20 has reversed that. Looking for a loophole The Executive…
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Depressed and Dismissed – A Hard Lesson for a Hard Employer

Depressed and Dismissed – A Hard Lesson for a Hard Employer

A recent Labour Court decision in Jansen v Legal Aid South Africa (C678/14) [2018] ZALCCT 17 shows how dangerous it is as an employer, when attempting to dismiss an employee, not to draw a clear distinction between misconduct and incapacity. Disciplined for depression An employee, whose track record had originally been an excellent one, was charged at a disciplinary enquiry with four charges of misconduct – Unauthorised absence from work for 17 working days, Failure to inform his manager of his absences in accordance with company policy, “Gross insolence” in the form of turning his back on his manager when talking…
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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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