BASIC GUIDE TO BARGAINING COUNCILS

What exactly are Bargaining Councils? Trade unions and employers’ organisations may form bargaining councils. Bargaining councils deal with collective agreements, solve labour disputes, establish various schemes and make proposals on labour policies and laws. Powers and Functions: • make and enforce collective agreements; • prevent and resolve labour disputes; • establish and manage a dispute resolution fund; • promote and establish training and education schemes; • establish and manage schemes […]

REINSTATEMENT

All you need to know about reinstatement Reinstatement is the primary remedy provided in the Labour Relations Act for substantively unfair dismissals. Where an employee seeks reinstatement following a substantively unfair dismissal, the employer can only escape reinstatement being awarded where (1) the circumstances surrounding the dismissal make the continued employment relationship intolerable or(2)it is not reasonably practicable for the employer to reinstate or re-employ the employee. For further information […]

RESIGNATION LETTER SAMPLE

Resignation letter sample A resignation letter is written by an employee who no longer wants to work for his current company. The resignation letter informs the employee about his decision citing reasons and the date from which he would like to resign. The resignation letter is normally addressed to the immediate superior or the personnel department of the company. View the resignation letter sample

CONSTRUCTIVE DISMISSAL

What is Constructive Dismissal? Constructive dismissal is defined as a situation in the workplace created by the employer whereby the employer makes work-life extremely difficult for an employee – to such an extent that the employee has no other option available but to resign.” In fact the employee would have continued the employment relationship indefinitely had it not been for the employer’s unacceptable conduct. When any employee resigns and claims constructive dismissal, the employee is […]

Ill-Health, Injury Dismissals

The (LRA) obligates employers to do everything humanly possible to avoid the dismissal of ill or injured employees. Find out here what this means for you For further information on Unfair Dismissal or any labour related matters, you can contact Bernard Reisner: W.Tel no.: 021 423 3959 Fax: 021 423 2105 Cell: 082 433 8714 E-mail: bernard@capelabour.co.za Website: www.capelabour.co.za

BE SPECIFIC WHEN DRAFTING NOTICE TO ATTEND DISCIPLINARY HEARINGS

Employers frequently complete disciplinary hearing charge sheets poorly without properly outlining the specific components of the allegations being levelled against an employee. Employers often accuse employees of acts of misconduct which, in fact, cannot be proved. An employer’s assumptions or suspicions are of no value if they cannot be proved on the balance of probabilities as is required. The amount of information contained in misconduct “charge sheet” is normally referred […]

A DUTY TO REPORT MISCONDUCT?

An employee may well be obliged to report knowledge of dishonest activities on the part of his or her co-workers. If an employer knows that some fellow employees are stealing from the employer, for instance, the employee’s failure to share that knowledge with the employer may well lead to the employee’s dismissal. For further information on Unfair Labour Practice or any labour related matters, you can contact Bernard Reisner: W.Tel […]

EMPLOYEES WHO BRING THE COMPANY NAME INTO DISREPUTE BY THEIR ONLINE ACTIONS

South African law similarly recognises the right of an employer to take action against an employer where the employee’s private actions impact on the employment relationship. The employer may discipline an employee who cause harm to the company by making remarks about the company, its products, service or staff on social media networks. The test used to establish whether the employer may take action is whether the conduct hampers the […]

DEALING WITH ABSENTEEISM

Absenteeism of any kind, and the handling thereof, is based on the operational difficulties it causes and the ability of the organisation to cope with them. If the employee’s absenteeism is causing real operating problems, then the employee could be dismissed even though he or she still has a sick leave available in his or her cycle. CONTACT CAPE LABOUR. For more information on labour law advice or services. Please […]

A VALID MEDICAL CERTIFICATE

In addition to being issued and signed by medical practitioner, the BCEA importantly requires that the certificate should specify that the employee was too ill, or injured, to work for the entire period of his or her absence. A valid medical certificate should also: 1. Show the date on which it was issued. 2. Show the date on which the employee was examined. 3. Stipulate whether the medical practitioner or […]

Labour Law Blog