Topic: South Africa

The never-ending debate of “in full and final settlement”

By Heidi Davis on August 2, 2023 Posted in South Africa

This blog was co-authored by Tasmia Immam Alli, Candidate Attorney In a February 2023 Labour Appeal Court (LAC) case Wheelwright v CP De Leeuw Johannesburg (Pty) Ltd, the LAC held that a restraint of trade agreement pursuant to an employment contract can be extinguished by a full and final settlement agreement which does not preserve … Continue reading

Don’t Forget to Renew Overtime Clauses

By Jason Whyte and Stacy Smit on June 30, 2023 Posted in South Africa

In February 2023 the Labour Court delivered judgment in a review of an arbitration award of the CCMA. The employees concerned were charged and dismissed for gross insubordination when they refused to obey the instruction of their manager to work overtime. The CCMA found the dismissals to be substantively fair. During evidence at the arbitration, … Continue reading

Crunching the numbers for employment equity – What you need to do now that the draft sectoral targets have been published

By Karen Ainslie (ZA) on May 23, 2023 Posted in South Africa

On Friday, 12 May 2023, the Minister of Employment and Labour (the Minister) published the long-promised sectoral targets. The draft sectoral targets can be viewed here. The draft sectoral targets follow on the President signing the Employment Equity Amendment Act, 2022 (the Amendment Act) into law on 14 April 2023. The Amendment Act introduces a … Continue reading

Constitutional Court clarifies the use of replacement labour during strikes and lock-outs

By Jason Whyte on April 24, 2023 Posted in South Africa

This blog was co-authored by Heidi Davis, Trainee Associate On 18 April 2023, the Constitutional Court found that replacement labour may only be used for the duration of strike action and not during a lock-out, even in instances where a lock-out notice was delivered before the strike had ended. Following unsuccessful claims in both the … Continue reading

Historical knowledge insufficient to enforce an anticipatory breach of restraint of trade

By Verushka Reddy on April 5, 2023 Posted in South Africa

This blog was co-authored by Muhammad Mirza, Trainee Associate On 20 February 2023, the Labour Court found that historical knowledge and information obtained by an employee during her employment with her former employer, did not constitute trade secrets or a protectable interest. The former employee (employee) was therefore free to work for the applicant’s competitor. … Continue reading

The pitfalls of poor drafting and copying off precedents: Restraint of trade clauses

By Mohammed Chavoos on April 3, 2023 Posted in South Africa

This blog was co-authored by Jessica Blunden, Candidate Attorney The recent judgment in Ashton International College Ballito (Pty) Ltd v Erasmus and Another serves as a deterrent to practitioners and clients not to copy and paste clauses obtained from precedents into agreements without proper thought and it emphasises the need for accurate drafting. This case … Continue reading

Bending the CCMA Rules

By Michael Balie on March 3, 2023 Posted in South Africa

Aimed at regulating proceedings in the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), the CCMA Rules serve a vital function. However, in the recent judgment of the Labour Court, the Labour Court declined to uphold the enforcement of the CCMA’s rule regarding objections to the con/arb process. This resulted in a default award against the … Continue reading

Changes to BCEA Earnings Threshold and to National Minimum Wage Act from 1 March 2023

By Verushka Reddy and Zaid Majiet on March 1, 2023 Posted in South Africa

The Minister of Labour has determined that from 1 March 2023, the earnings threshold under the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, 1997 (BCEA) increased from R224 080.48 per annum (approximately R18 673.37 per month) to R241 110.59 per annum (approximately R20 092.55 per month). The national minimum wage increased from R23.19 per hour to R25.42 for … Continue reading

Enforcement of a restraint of trade agreement fails for lack of proof of a protectable interest

By Zaid Majiet on January 16, 2023 Posted in South Africa

This blog was co-authored by Felix Le Roux, Candidate Attorney On 8 November 2022, the Labour Court dismissed an urgent application by an employer, a national gym organisation, in which it sought to enforce the terms of a restraint of trade agreement against their former national sales manager who took up employment with their main … Continue reading

New Zealand court says Uber drivers are employees

By Laura Macfarlane on December 20, 2022 Posted in General, South Africa

This blog was co-authored by Heidi Davis, Candidate Attorney In an October 2022 judgment, the New Zealand Employment Courts concluded that Uber drivers are employees who are entitled to the protection and benefits offered by their employment law. This decision will encourage voices advocating for the rights of Gig workers globally to be aligned with … Continue reading

Global Employment Law – Work from Anywhere: Leadership Challenges – Transforming Workplace -#17

By Jason Noakes on June 28, 2022 Posted in Australia, Canada, China, Colombia, France, General, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Luxembourg, Middle East, Poland, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, The Netherlands, UK, United States, Venezuela

This is the 17th paper in our Transforming Workplace series. In our earlier article, we explored why employees’ expectations of their leaders have changed and why organisations need to upgrade leaders’ skills and behaviours. In this paper we now examine ow organisations can upskill their leaders to meet the specific leadership challenges arising from ‘work … Continue reading

Labour Court upholds dismissal for testing positive for cannabis

By Verushka Reddy on June 6, 2022 Posted in South Africa

On 1 June 2022 the Labour Court found that the dismissal of an employee for contravention of the employer’s zero-tolerance Alcohol and Substance Abuse policy, by repeatedly testing positive for having cannabis in her system, did not amount to unfair discrimination nor an automatically unfair dismissal. [Bernadette Enever v Barloworld Equipment, a division of Barloworld … Continue reading

Global Employment Law – Work from Anywhere: The end of the office? – Transforming Workplace – #16

This is the 16th paper in our Transforming Workplace series. In our previous paper, we discussed how to make ‘work from anywhere’ work better. In this paper we now examine whether the day of the office, as we know it, has ended Work from Anywhere: The end of the office? – Transforming Workplace – #16 This … Continue reading

Global Employment Law- Work From Anywhere: Make it work better – Transforming Workplace -#15

This is the 15th paper in our Transforming Workplace series. In this paper we examine how ‘work from anywhere’ can be made to work better. Work From Anywhere: Make it work better -Transforming Workplace – #15 This article is part of our Transforming Workplace series. Other articles exploring the opportunities, challenges and risk of the transforming … Continue reading

Reserving low skilled jobs for South Africans is not likely to pass constitutional muster

By Laura Macfarlane on April 20, 2022 Posted in South Africa

This blog was co-authored by Thando Ndita, candidate attorney Last month the Minister of Employment and Labour published proposed amendments to the Employment Services Act, 2014, the purpose of which is to address high unemployment and the “high representation of foreign nationals” in the unskilled sector. Foreign nationals include all persons who are not South … Continue reading

Global Employment Law – The Decline (and Fall?) of the Five-Day Workweek – Transforming Workplace -#14

By Jason Noakes on April 19, 2022 Posted in Australia, Canada, China, Colombia, France, General, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Luxembourg, Middle East, Poland, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, The Netherlands, UK, United States, Venezuela

In our previous article in the Transforming Workplace series we outlined the benefits of short-term “work from anywhere”. In this article, we focus on the advantages of introducing flexible hours and days. The Decline (and Fall?) of the Five-Day Workweek This article is part of our Transforming Workplace series. Other articles exploring the opportunities, … Continue reading

Global Employment Law: Work From Anywhere: Short Term – Transforming Workplace -#13

In our previous articles in the Transforming Workplace series we examined the challenges of “work from anywhere”. In this article, we consider the best options for introducing “work from anywhere” on a short-term basis in your organisation. Work from Anywhere: Short-Term This article is part of our Transforming Workplace series. Other articles exploring the opportunities, … Continue reading

Global Employment Law: Work From Anywhere: Benefits & Challenges – Transforming Workplace -#12

In our previous article in the Transforming Workplace series we examined the hybrid model of work. In this article we discuss the benefits and challenges of “work from anywhere”, including on a hybrid work mode. Work From Anywhere: Benefits & Challenges This article is part of our Transforming Workplace series. Other articles exploring the opportunities, … Continue reading

Global Employment Law: Work from anywhere: Hybrid model – Transforming Workplace -#11

Our previous articles in the Transforming Workplace series discussed some of the important issues relating to the worldwide trend of working from anywhere. In this article we examine the hybrid workplace, where employees combine some level of “work from anywhere” with some time attending their worksite. Work from anywhere: Hybrid model This article is part … Continue reading

Global Employment Law: Work from anywhere: Does it suit everyone?- Transforming Workplace – #10

We considered the growth in the number of employees ‘working from anywhere’ in our previous articles in the Transforming Workplace series. In this article we focus on suitability – does “work from anywhere” suit all jobs, all countries, and all employees? Work from anywhere: Does it suit everyone? This article is part of our Transforming … Continue reading

Global Employment Law: Work from anywhere: Does location matter? – Transforming Workplace – #9

Our previous article in our Transforming Workplace series noted that “work from home” becomes “work from anywhere” when employees home to a more remote location further away from their pre-pandemic worksite. This article looks at some of the issues the change in location can have ifworkers “work from anywhere”. Work from anywhere: Does location matter? … Continue reading

Global Employment Law : Work from home becomes work from anywhere – Transforming Workplace -#8

This article in our Transforming Workplace series is the first in a series examining employees “working from anywhere” – an important issue facing organisations worldwide. Work from home becomes work from anywhere This article is part of our Transforming Workplace series. Other articles exploring the opportunities, challenges and risk of the transforming workplace can be … Continue reading

Global Employment Law: Leadership Reimagined -Transforming Workplace – #7

In the previous article in our series “Transforming Workplace” we considered the challenges to the employer’s organisational culture that will result from changed employee expectations and from modernising your Employee Value Proposition. In this article we look at how these enhancements to your organisational culture will challenge the capability and style of your leadership team. … Continue reading

Global Employment Law: How the Gig Economy is reshaping labour markets

On 24 March 2022, Maartje Govaert, Global Head of Employment and Labour, joined the panel for the JP Morgan virtual Global ESG Conference, discussing “How the Gig Economy is reshaping labour markets: Exploring ESG Risks and Opportunities”. Below is a summary of some of the points raised by Maartje in the discussion. What is the … Continue reading