Does Failure to Accept Change to Employment T’s & C’s Result in Automatically Unfair Dismissal?
National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa vs Aveng Trident Steel and another [2021] 1 BLLR 1 (CC) Does the refusal by an employee to accept a change to terms and conditions of employment as an alternative to retrenchment constitute a “refusal to accept a demand in respect of any matter of mutual interest […]
Small Business Owners: Working Remotely & Employee Vaccine Rights
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have had to deal with a litany of issues since the pandemic began. Many were forced to close shop for a period of time, had to put their staff on short time or retrench and even needed to restructure their entire […]
Uber Drivers Caught Out As No Precedent Yet In Local Courts
Uber has been in the news of late thanks to the UK’s Supreme Court ruling in February that Uber UK grant drivers basic employment protection. The win will give 70,000 drivers access to holiday pay, a pension scheme and will be entitled to be paid at least the national living wage. It was not […]
The TES, The Client and the Deeming Provision: The Labour Appeal Court Sheds More Light
Section 198 of the Labour Relations Act (“LRA”) (which is the TES or labour-broking provision) defines a ‘temporary employment service’ to mean any person who, for reward, procures for or provides to a client other persons (a) who perform work for the client; and (b) who are remunerated by the temporary employment service. Among the […]
Alternatives to Retrenchment
During stages 5 and 4 of the national lock down, when businesses not involved in providing essential services were prohibited from operating, the oft quoted “No work no pay” principle applied by operation of law. In essence, the government-imposed prohibition on business operations created a supervening impossibility of performance for both employer and employee resulting […]
Retrenchments and Selection Criteria: Some Considerations
The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on our economy has been and seems likely to continue to be extremely severe, and many businesses face an uncertain future…
Update and Clarity on the Difference Between the National Disaster Benefit Fund and TERS
We continue to receive numerous queries relating to the National Disaster Benefit Fund (“NDBF”) and Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (“TERS”) Govern…