THE UNFAIR LABOUR PRACTICE DISPUTE – QUO VADIS?
AUTHOR: MICHELLE POSEMANN PUBLICATION DATE: AUG 19, 2025 1. Introduction Recognising that the various pieces of legislation covering employment law needed updating, the Labour Market Chamber of NEDLAC established a Labour Law Reform Task Team, comprising organised labour, organised business and government, to develop proposed legislative amendments and recommendations on the way forward, where required. […]
REVIEW OF CCMA ARBITRATION AWARDS
AUTHOR: MICHELLE POSEMANN PUBLICATION DATE: AUG 12, 2025 1. Introduction There is no appeal process from the CCMA – an arbitration award is final and binding[1], subject only to review by the Labour Court on the limited grounds set out in sections 145[2], 158(1)(g)[3] and 158(1)(h)[4] of the Labour Relations Act, 66 of 1995 (LRA). […]
The Law Behind Letting Go: A Legal Guide To Retrenchments
AUTHOR: SAIURI SEETAL PUBLICATION DATE: AUGUST 7, 2025 Retrenchment is a form of dismissal based on the employer’s operational requirements, and not employee misconduct or performance. Operational requirements are defined in the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 (LRA) as “requirements based on the economic, technological, structural or similar needs of an employer.” Retrenchments are […]
The Reciprocal Duty of Good Faith in the Employment Relationship
Author: Michelle PosemannPublication Date: Aug 5, 2025 1. Introduction “At common law, the contract between the parties is no longer the exclusive (or virtually exclusive) determinant of the rights and obligations of the parties; that contract now takes the form of a social compact in which the parties acquire rights and assume obligations shaped, not exclusively […]
Bridging the divide between ‘employee’ and ‘independent contractor’ to include a new category of ‘worker’
AUTHOR: MICHELLE POSEMANN PUBLICATION DATE: JULY 28, 2025 1. Introduction Globally, it is becoming increasingly more complex to establish whether parties are in an employment relationship. The rapid evolution of the manner in which people make their services available to others, is placing increasing pressure on legislators to expand the scope of ‘who is an […]
Sexual Harassment as a Barrier to Equity in the Workplace
AUTHOR: MICHELLE POSEMANN PUBLICATION DATE: JULY 25, 2025 In terms of the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 (EEA), which promotes, inter alia, gender equity in the workplace, harassment is a form of unfair discrimination and it is prohibited on any one or combination of grounds listed in the Act, including any arbitrary ground. Whilst […]
DOES THE “SUFFICIENTLY CLOSE CONNECTION TEST” ADEQUATELY BALANCE THE INTERESTS OF EMPLOYERS AND THOSE HARMED BY THE CONDUCT OF THE EMPLOYEE?
1. Introduction This article will examine the suitability of the test applied by our courts to determine whether an employer can be held liable for wrongful conduct by an employee even when unauthorised, on the basis of a “sufficiently close” link between the wrongful conduct and their employment. 2. Analysis In 1999 the Canadian Supreme […]