Workers affected by the COVID-19 lockdown regulations since March 2021 will once again be able to claim from the COVID-19 Temporary Employee/Employer Relief Scheme (TERS).

This comes after Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi on Friday signed the direction which makes it possible for the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) to implement the third extension of the [more…]

With the advent of Covid-19 more than a year ago, the financial strain on companies has forced many to restructure their businesses, impacting most significantly on their employees, with large-scale retrenchments becoming necessary, and which in essence is contributing to South Africa’s weakening economy.

It is, however, important for employers to note that even during these [more…]

With looting and violence impacting parts of South Africa over the last week, and with the reams of video footage depicting the brazenness of the looters, the question on many employers’ minds is whether, if spotted looting while off duty, they can dismiss their employees?

The kneejerk reaction of many employers would be that these employees [more…]

Johannesburg – A judge has read the EFF the riot act over involving itself in labour disputes, telling it to register as a trade union if it insists on organising strikes against employers.

Johannesburg Labour Court Acting Judge Reghana Tulk presided in a final interdict application by the owners of a Spar franchise brought against the [more…]

Substantive fairness Cashier :Dismissal of cashier for lighting a dagga “zol” during tea break – Possession of drugs at work – Dismissal fair.

The applicant, a cashier at one of the respondent’s stores, was apprehended by security guards outside the store with a lit “zol” of cannabis. He claimed that he was on tea-break at [more…]

A large part of South Africa’s workforce has seen the effect of the recently updated national minimum wage. The update came as per the national legislation requiring the Minister of Labour to review the national minimum wage within two years of its enactment. As such, the recent update raised the question whether employers can in [more…]

Dear employer

In terms of the Employment Equity Act (EEA), a ‘designated employer’ must comply with all the duties contained in the Act.

An employer is a ‘designated employer’ if he/she employs 50 employees or more; or employs less than 50 employees but has an annual turnover above the relevant industry thresholds in terms of Schedule 4 [more…]

On Sunday, 11 July 2021, the President extended the Covid-19 adjusted Alert Level 4 for another 14 days.

The President has indicated that the following amended regulations remain applicable:-

• all indoor and outdoor gatherings, including religious, political, cultural and social gatherings are prohibited;
• travel in or out of Gauteng is not permitted for leisure purposes;
• funerals [more…]
  

A YEAR ago, President Cyril Ramaphosa declared that by July this year, South African businesses would be required to put necessary measures in place to become compliant with the new Protection of Personal Information (Popi) Act.

The act is to ensure better data and security management as well as accountability on how businesses use public data, [more…]

The POPI deadline has not been extended. Please note that the extension is only applicable to one section of the act, S57, which talks to authorization for the processing of information subject to prior consent.

[more…]

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 [more…]

As a nation, we have embarked on the single most important intervention to defeat this once-in-a-century health crisis, which is vaccinating our adult population against Covid-19.

The pandemic is a national challenge, not simply a challenge for Government, but also for business, other social partners and individuals, so it is in all of our interest to [more…]

The Minister of Finance has issued an official notice to increase the monthly maximum remuneration for Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) contributions

The previous threshold was R14 872.00 per month.

On 11 June 2021 the Minister of Employment and Labour published an Amended Consolidated Direction on Occupational Health and Safety Measures in Certain Workplaces (“Direction“). The Direction is effective from 11 June 2021.

The Direction provides guidelines relating to, among others, social distancing, symptom screening, wearing of cloth masks and the importance of ventilation in the [more…]

Employee was reinstated but with no backpay.

“The absence of express rules may create confusion or ambiguity.”

[more…]

“While this latest directive clarifies the matter mandatory workplace vaccination, it cautions employers that when implementing a mandatory policy, the rights of employees to bodily integrity and religious freedoms and beliefs must be taken into account” .

The Department of Employment and Labour has issued an updated occupational health and safety directive which, among other things, [more…]

Many South Africans are working from home. The question is when to switch off from work in terms of the BCEA.

In France the French Labour Code includes a mandatory obligation for employers with 50 or more employees to negotiate terms that regulate an employee’s ‘right to disconnect’. It also regulates the use of digital tools, [more…]

In a unanimous judgment, former head of anesthesiology at George Hospital, Dr Charles James McGregor, who was fired for sexual harassment in 2016, was refused leave to appeal his dismissal by the Constitutional Court.

The charges involved a newly qualified medical practitioner, who was completing an internship under his supervision and was 30 years his junior.

[more…]