The issue of mandatory vaccinations in the workplace
The issue of mandatory vaccinations in the workplace is an interesting one. Earlier this month, New Zealand announced a ‘no jab, no job’ policy for most healthcare workers and teachers to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Doctors, nurses, and other frontline health workers must be double-jabbed by 1 December while any person working […]
Calculation of Employee’s Remuneration
GN 691 OF 23 MAY 2003: CALCULATION OF EMPLOYEE’S REMUNERATION IN TERMS OF SECTION 35 (5) OF THE ACT (BCEA) With compliments from the Department of Labour… The Minister of Labour has determined, in Government Notice 691 dated 23rd May 2003, that the following method of calculating employee’s remuneration for the purposes of annual leave […]
Overpayments
What happens in the event of overpayments toward employees by the employer? In terms of section 35(5) of the BCEA, we see that an employer may not require or permit an employee to repay any remuneration except for overpayments previously made by the employer resulting from an error in calculating the employee’s remuneration. The Labour […]
What is a Benefit?
Sadly, there is no definition of a “benefit” in the Labour Relations Act, No. 66 of 1995 (LRA). Over the years the Labour Court and the Labour Appeal Court have had to try to make sense of this term and there have been many and varied interpretations. Earlier decisions made a distinction between remuneration and […]
Presumption as to who is an employee
There is always questions about the presumption as to who is an employee. We explore the Basic Conditions of Employment Act(BCEA) for guidance in this matter according to section 83A. Who is an employee? (1) A person who works for, or renders services to, any other person is presumed, until the contrary is proved, to […]
Long awaited parental leave
When it comes to parental leave in South Africa, what does the law provide for and which law applies? Section 25A of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) applies. (1) An employee, who is a parent of a child, is entitled to at least ten consecutive days parental leave. (2) An employee may commence […]
Who can apply for a critical skills work visa and what is the criteria?
A critical skills work visa is something that you might not always need in your business, but when you do it is important to know the criteria and who can apply for it in South Africa. Any foreign national who has skills or qualifications that the South African Department of Home Affairs has deemed to […]
Duties and Obligations of the Employer of Foreign Nationals
Section 38 of the Immigration Act 13 of 2002 places strict obligations on employers in South Africa to ensure that foreign nationals they hire is legally permitted to work in the country. The legislation outlines not only who may be lawfully employed, but also the due-diligence steps employers must take to verify foreign nationals’ immigration […]
What is a constructive dismissal
In this post we explore what a constructive dismissal is within the context of the South African law. Is there such a thing as constructive dismissal? The answer is absolutely, but tread cautiously … such a dismissal is unfortunately very hard to proof. To make matters worse, the burden of proof is reversed. We see […]
Disciplinary hearing procedures
In South Africa disciplinary hearing procedures are guided by most notably the Labour Relations Act (LRA) and the associated Code of Good Practice: Dismissal (Schedule 8). PRE-DISCIPLINARY INVESTIGATIONS IN THE WORKPLACE It is quite scary to notice that some Employers do not investigate grievances or incidents, that could possibly lead to disciplinary steps to be […]