Matter:In the matter of Food and Allied Workers Union obo Gaushubelwe v Pieman’s Pantry (Pty) Ltd, the Constitutional Court had to consider the question of whether the Prescription Act applied to unfair dismissal claims and whether the referral of a dispute to the CCMA interrupted the running of prescription. On 1 August 2001 members of the Food and Allied Workers Union (the “union”) were dismissed for alleged participation in an unprotected strike on 1 August 2001. The union subsequently r...

This issue was dealt with in the case of National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa o.b.o Members and Others v ArcelorMittal South Africa Limited and Others, delivered on 2 September 2020. In this matter, the Labour Court had to determine whether the dismissal of two employees were procedurally and substantively unfair in the circumstances where the employer had substituted a chairperson’s sanction to a disciplinary of a final written warning with that of dismissal. In determining the dis...

On 30 March 2021, The President of Kenya assented to an Act of parliament amending section 29 of the Employment Act, 2007, through the insertion of section 29A on pre-adoptive leave to parents who apply for adoption of children. The Act came into force on 15 April 2021. The Amendment Act has amended section 2 of the Employment Act by inserting the definition of an “exit certificate”. An exit certificate is defined as a written authority given by a registered adoption society to a prospective ...

Inquiry by an arbitrator in circumstances of an alleged protected disclosure. The introduction of section188A(11) of the Labour Relations Act The amendments to the Labour Relations Act (LRA) and other key employment legislation in 2015 resulted in key changes to the way employers traditionally regulated employment and the manner in which employers are expected to interact with their employees. One such amendment was the amendments to section 188A of the LRA. This section previously entitled "ag...

The Labour Court was faced with an interesting question in the matter of Shoprite Checkers (Pty) Ltd v Samka & Others (2018) 9 BLLR 922 (LC). The Facts: Ms Samka was employed by Shoprite Checkers as a part-time cashier. She alleged that was particularly targeted, bullied and victimised by supervisors and managers because she had raised a specific grievance with regards to the racist practices by her employer. Further, an incident occurred between her and a customer. This incident led t...

In this case, the employees were retrenched following Telkom’s “Fit for the Future” business restructuring exercise. The latter commenced in 2014 in response to declining revenues, market share and profitability.  Four trade unions were consulted between April 2014 and September 2014 regarding the three phases which were used to fill positions in the new organisational structure and the criteria which were to be used in appointments. Employees were placed without interviews and a strict cri...

On 8 February 2021, two significant developments took place in the employment law arena. New earnings threshold First, the so-called “earnings threshold” has been increased for the first time since July 2014. The increase in the threshold will mean that from 1 March 2021, some employees who earn more than ZAR205 433.30 but less than ZAR211 596 per year may be entitled to additional protections that they were not previously enjoyed, such as payment for overtime, compulsory breaks and rest pe...

In August 2012, members of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (“NUMSA”) engaged in a protected strike. During the strike, various acts of violence are alleged to have occurred, resulting in damage to property owned by the respondents and its employees. The employer subsequently dismissed the striking employees pursuant to their alleged misconduct during the strike, and on the basis of derivative misconduct. Challenging the fairness of the dismissals, NUMSA referred a mutual i...

In the recent judgment of Gold One Limited v Madalani and Others [2020], the Labour Court confirmed that intolerability is a high threshold in constructive dismissal matters. The Court held that, “Intolerability is a high threshold, far more than just a difficult, unpleasant or stressful working environment or employment conditions”. Facts In this matter, the employee was employed by Gold One on 1 January 2013 and held the position of a Contract Manager at Constantia Park, until she was tra...

In the case of Amalungelo Workers ‘Union and Others vs Philip Morris South Africa (Pty) Limited and Another [2019] ZACC 45 (CC), the Union and 75 of its members claimed their employer Philip Morris South Africa (Pty) Ltd and Leonard Dingler (Pty) Ltd, have in contravention of section 34 of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (“BCEA”), deducted tax in respect of company cars from their salaries. Based on this allegation, the Union instituted proceedings in the Labour Court for an order com...