There is a commonly-held belief among employees and certain HR practitioners that a fixed-term employment contract becomes permanent after a certain number of renewals. This article examines whether or not there is any truth to…
Many employees who are facing disciplinary action are tempted to approach the Labour Court to interdict a disciplinary hearing (i.e. prevent it from proceeding). This involves launching an urgent application in the Labour Court for…
Many companies engage workers on independent contractor agreements instead of employment contracts. This can result in disputes regarding whether or not the person can enforce labour law rights (such as claiming for an unfair dismissal…
It is important for employers to distinguish between poor work performance and dereliction of duty when taking action against employees which may result in dismissal. This is because they require different processes, and the use…
The Labour Appeal Court recently delivered a judgment in a case about the employer’s liability for discrimination by a customer, in Samka v Shoprite. The case involved a cashier of Shoprite who was subjected to…
Employers who are embarking on a retrenchment process are often tempted to use records of employees’ performance and adverse disciplinary records as retrenchment selection criteria in identifying employees to be dismissed. They do so in…
There are instances where employees have been exonerated at a disciplinary hearing or issued a “light” sanction such as a written warning, and where the employer wishes to pursue the same allegations again in order…
Many employees were either not paid any salary or were paid a reduced salary during the lockdown while their employer’s operations were shut down. This has resulted in certain employees seeking advice on whether they…
Employees often decide to submit a summary resignation to avoid a disciplinary hearing, giving rise to the question whether it is permissible for the employer to continue with the hearing despite the employee’s resignation. The…