During the height of the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, the employer, Concrete Lining Products, decided to close down operations from 25 March to 16 April 2020 whilst continuing to pay its employees in full for that period, with the amount paid to be offset against the employees’ annual leave for days not worked.
The applicant
In modern employment contracts, restraint of trade clauses are commonly inserted to protect the employer’s proprietary interests. The purpose thereof is to prohibit an employee for a specified period and prescribed geographical area from taking up employment with a direct competitor.
Employers need to be wary of employees who breach restraint of trade clauses and
This blog was co-authored by Likho Chitha, Candidate Attorney
On 1 February 2024, the Minister of Employment and Labour increased the national minimum wage by 8.5% from R25.42 to R27.58 for each ordinary hour worked from 1 March 2024.
The increase will apply to most workers, including farm workers and domestic workers whose minimum
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
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
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
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
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
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
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