Labour and Employment Law Lawyers
South Africa has some of the most liberal and progressive Labour Law in the world and as such, it is extremely difficult to keep up and comply or even understand how it applies to both employer and employee, whether in the public or private sector. Lawyers Working From Home™ approves and supports qualified and expert Labour and Employment lawyers on its platform.
The pandemic has posed many challenges and opportunities for business owners and employers. Lockdown regulations demanded and established ad hoc/permanent working from home arrangements. Overall these operational changes improved efficiency of productivity of employees, but also increased risks for employers, for instance, relating to cyber crime, intellectual property, and confidentiality issues.
Labour and employment contracts and policies need consistent review and updates as the government regularly changes alert levels and regulations, which impact workplaces.
Employment lawyers can assist with employment/labour law advice drafting, review and updating of employment contracts. To mitigate risks of working from home, employers also often have to consider health and safety issues, restraints of trade and confidentiality agreements.
Workplace disputes arise for various reasons. Some employers tend to be less compliant towards employment and labour laws than they should be, leaving the employee to be unfairly treated pertaining to that situation. Such dispute can relate to the employee’s remuneration, statutory monies due or general treatment as such an employee, by the employer. The dispute can also arise out of a situation where the employer intends to part ways with the employee, for some reason or another.
These sources of labour rights and obligations have different forms, but essentially boil down to some basic rules. Employers are only entitled to terminate employment contracts and dismiss employees for reasons relating to an employee’s misconduct, negligence, capacity/operational requirements. These reasons usually form the basis for any termination procedure the employer decides to follow; either by way of a hearing, several interventions or various consultations.
Small business owners often do not have sufficient training or an independent HR department which can assist with workplace and employee disputes. Our expert labour and employment law lawyers can assist with employee disputes relating to probation, unfair labour practices, unfair dismissals, and retrenchments.
Should the employer not have a just reason, or execute the procedure in a manner that is unfair towards the employee, the aggrieved employee can refer the matter to a designated body, which shall attempt to resolve what is now known as a dispute. The designated body to receive and deal with employment disputes is the CCMA.
Our expert labour and employment lawyers can assist with legal representation at the CCMA, Bargaining Councils, Labour Courts, Labour Appeal Court, High Courts and the Supreme Court of Appeals and the Constitutional Court.
Our labour legal specialists can also provide services to support your business with in-house training, retrenchments, strikes, restructuring or organisational development.
Connect with top labour and employment lawyers on our Lawyers Working From Home™ platform to obtain preliminary advice on your legal options and cost estimates.