An employee is obliged to furnish an employer with a legitimate medical certificate “if the employee is absent from work for more than two consecutive days or on more than two occasions during an eight week period”. The medical certificate must be issued and signed by a medical practitioner or any other person who is certified to diagnose and treat patients and who is registered with a professional council established […]
Occasionally both the CCMA and the Labour Court are required to address the admissibility of evidence garnered by an employer against an employee during an undercover operation. This typically takes the form of taped telephone conversations, audio evidence and the like evolves subsequent to a trap having been laid by the employer. “It seems that provided the courts are satisfied that the use of entrapment is properly scrutinised and the […]
One issue that employers face more often these days is that of employees who badmouth their managers, clients, colleagues or the work environment in general, on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. A very thin one indeed, because just as individuals have a right to privacy, so do employers have the right to protect their business interests. Because of this, employees are not free to do and say […]
A Definition of Constructive Dismissal It involves employees resigning on the basis that they have concluded that the employer has acted in a fashion which has rendered their on going employment to be unbearable. Section 186(1)(e) of the Labour Relations Act provides that dismissal means “an employee terminated a contract of employment with or without notice because the employer made continued employment intolerable for the employee”. “an employee bears an […]
While there can be a little doubt that the CCMA, its processes and procedures, even the quality of arbitration awards, have improved considerably over the past years, there are still some flawed arbitration awards that slip through the cracks of the CCMA’s own scrutiny. In one such case, the Labour Court expresses severe criticism of what a CCMA commissioner did (or, more accurately, what the commissioner did not do). Regrettably, […]
About the use of Polygraph Tests Applicant refusing to obey instruction to undergo polygraph tests – applicant contractually bound to do so on request. The applicant, a trainee manager, was dismissed for refusing to undergo a polygraph test. He claimed that he had declined to submit to a test because he was not on duty on the on the day certain stock had gone missing, and because, in his experience, […]
The popularity of social networking websites such as Facebook is presenting employers and employees with significant employment implications. It is not just inappropriate websites and excessive use of company e-mail that employers need to track, but also employee use of the often addictive social networking sites. Employees have been found to be spending time whiling the hours away on Facebook during working hours, to the unproductive detriment of their employers. […]
The Department of Labour has granted the request of the Building Industry Bargaining Council Cape of Good Hope to increase its jurisdiction. The Council’s authority now Overstrand Local Municipality, which means building industry employers, employees and unions in Gansbaai, Hangklip, Hermanus, Kleinmond and Stanford will be governed by the same collective agreement as the Peninsula, Boland and Malmesbury areas. “We estimate that there are about 200 builders who will be […]
In accordance with a recently released determination by the Minister of Labour, with effect from 01 July, 2011 the earnings threshold for the purposes of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, No. 75 of 1997 (“the BCEA”) will be increased from R149,736 per annum to R172,000 per annum. (In this regard, “earnings” is defined in the determination as being an employee’s “regular annual remuneration before deductions (i.e. income tax, pension, […]
Evidence is frequently confused with proof. Disciplinary and arbitration hearings are concerned, in essence with establishing whether or not an employee is “probably guilty” of the allegation(s) being levelled against them. It is only once, and if, such “Probable guilt” is established that the selection of an appropriate sanction becomes relevant and necessary. Guilty or not guilty verdicts are determined by whether there is enough proof to find the employee […]
