Disputes relating to the existence of a dismissal are no longer considered to be jurisdictional disputes. As a result, the review of such rulings will be limited to those that are rulings that no reasonable commissioner could make.
When a jurisdictional ruling is taken on review, the approach adopted by the Labour Court to date has been to decide whether that ruling is correct or not. A review of this nature is therefore of much wider scope than a standard review which is limited to the determination of the reasonableness of an award. The Labour Court has now found that a constructive dismissal dispute does not constitute a jurisdictional dispute. As a result, the review of the arbitration award was subject to the stricter principle of reasonableness. By implication, the review of all other rulings relating to the existence of a dismissal may henceforth be subject to this principle.
Prepared by Jonathan Jones
