Ubuntu News

The Personal Information Act (POPIA) came into effect as of 1 July 2020, with a grace period of a year in which any person or organisation who keeps any type of records relating to the personal information of anyone, unless those records are subject to other legislation which protects such information more stringently,  must ensure that…

On 10 August 2021, the South African Minister of Employment and Labour gazetted Regulations which established a temporary financial relief scheme for workers who have lost income due to the partial or full closure of workplaces destroyed, damaged, looted or otherwise affected by the recent unrest.  The scheme is a welcome intervention in circumstances where…

The legal pathway has been created for employers to make it mandatory for staff to be vaccinated and employers who decided to make the vaccination mandatory may experience some significant challenges especially when it comes to employees refusing to be vaccinated.   Mandatory vaccination has brought out to some important questions: • Is a risk assessment a…

Employee was given notice to attend a Disciplinary Hearing for misconduct.  On the day that the employee received the notice to attend the Disciplinary Hearing, she tendered her “resignation with immediate effect”.  The employer assumed that the employee had to serve four-weeks’ notice, the employee argued that her letter of “resignation with immediate effect” ended…

The civil unrest that South Africa faced this past week has left many employers asking questions such as: What may an employer do if its employee is seen on social media participating in the civil unrest? What if the employee is found to have stolen property and is correctly identified? May an employer dismiss an…

The Constitutional Court recently in NUMSA obo Nganezi & Others v Dunlop Mixing and Technical Services (Pty) Ltd & Others (2019) 40 ILJ 1957 (CC) (“Dunlop”) clarified the limits of the doctrine of derivative misconduct, as it was understood at the time. The Court considered the vexed question of determining the individual culpability of an employee in the context…

The recent widespread acts of theft at shopping malls, warehouses and distribution centres in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal have created extraordinary challenges for many businesses – businesses which have already sustained significant setbacks in an economy struggling to withstand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Footage of many who took part in these activities is readily…

With looting and violence continuing unabated in many parts of South Africa 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, “Of course! They…

Yes – in certain circumstances an employer may fairly dismiss an employee who refuses to be vaccinated. Duty to provide a safe and healthy workplace Employers have a general duty to provide a safe and healthy working environment for all their employees. Existing occupational health and safety regulations already require them to assess the health…

Summary of Key Findings: 1 January to 30 June 2021 • The average level of settlement was 4.5% in June 2021, compared with the overall average of 6.3% in 2020. The fall in settlement levels of 1.8% is very significantly large, given that movement up or down is usually less than 1%. This, in fact…