Posts by Ubuntu Resource Management

Sephai v Barloworld Transport (Pty) Ltd (LC) (unreported case no JS411/16, 14-12-2021) (Mabaso AJ) In terms of Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 (LRA), a strike action must comply with substantive and procedural requirements. The LRA makes a distinction between a protected and unprotected strike action. Certain rights are afforded to employees who participate in…

In the arbitration between Ms Cecilia Bessick (Applicant) and Baroque Medical (Pty) Ltd (Respondent),  the Commissioner had to determine whether the Applicant was unfairly retrenched based on her refusal to vaccinate  (in light of a mandatory vaccination policy) and whether she was entitled to severance pay. The facts in this matter are relatively simple. The…

Where the consulting parties have agreed on the selection criteria to be used, the employer is obliged to implement the criteria.  However, where no agreement can be reached between the consulting parties, the employer is obliged to use criteria that is fair and objective.  This legal position has been crystallised by the Constitutional Court (CC)…

Bakenrug Meat (Pty) Ltd t/a Joostenberg Meat v CCMA and Others (LAC) (CA8/2020, 18-1-2022) (Davis JA with Savage AJA and Waglay JP concurring). The appellant’s business involves producing and selling a range of meat products.  It employed the third respondent employee as a sales representative in October 2013. In October 2016, the employer became aware…

In Mosikili v South African Board of Sheriffs [2022] 2 BLLR 197 (WCC), the applicant, a Sheriff falling under the jurisdiction of the South African Board for Sheriffs (the respondent), was found guilty on a slew of charges for misconduct. The respondent’s Disciplinary Committee recommended that the applicant be barred from acting as a Sheriff.…

While there have been moves from the legislature to combat violence and harassment in the workplace, in many respects, the South African legislative framework was seen as falling short until Friday, 18 March 2022.  The Code creates a greater obligation on employers to counteract the devastating effects of violence and harassment in the workplace and…

The Labour Court has delivered a judgment dismissing a challenge to an employer’s vaccination policy. The employer’s policy required employees to either vaccinate or produce a negative Covid-19 test result within the past 7 days to gain access to its premises. The court rejected the employee’s argument that the vaccination policy breached or unilaterally changed…

Woolworths (Pty) Ltd v CCMA and Others (LAC) (unreported case no PA12/2012, 10-12-2021) (Davis JA with Waglay JP and Savage AJA concurring). On the morning of 9 June 2018, the employee called his manager informing him that he had taken ill and would not be attending work that day.  However, later the very same day,…

Developing legal approach to mental health in the workplace:  Compensation Commissioner v Georgia Badenhorst case Mental health and its effect on an individual’s functionality has increased in prominence in the last few years.  The case of Compensation Commissioner v Georgia Badenhorst [2022] ZAECGHC 1 touches on the importance of mental health in the workplace and how…

The regulation of working time for employees who earn in excess of certain amount per year (the “earnings threshold”), is different to that of lower earning employees.  Working time is also regulated differently for senior managerial employees even if they earn less than the earnings threshold.  How does this work, and are there other implications?…