LABOUR PRACTICES MOVE WITH THE TIMES

So here's the thing - don't forget that even if it is easier because "Dismissal for poor work performance is less onerous during probation than is required thereafter; very few employers are aware of this provision in the LRA, and even fewer understand how to take advantage of this provision," that you still have to go the disaplinary route - you can't just dismiss!

Remember, if there is any doubt, contact a Labour Attorney, not someone who knows someone who worked in an HR department 20 years ago, but someone who understands the law and who is up to date with current legislation.

Labour practices move with the times
Tony Healy
07 May 2007 at 11h00

The current Labour Relations Act (LRA), with its interim set of amendments in 2002, has been in force for more than 10 years, as has the CCMA.

Since then, the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) has had a nip and a tuck, and the Employment Equity Act has come into being.

During this time, best practice has evolved in each area of labour relations and employment law from which employers and employees (trade unions) alike can and should benefit.

Best practice does not remain static, and evolving case law and amendments to statutes requires these to be reviewed.

However, business and labour have been around the block a few times since the inception of the now not-so-new labour legislation landscape, and best practice can be distilled from this period in regard both individual and collective employment law and labour relations.

To begin with, conventional wisdom has evolved relating to employment contract content.

Employers were, to some degree, indulged in the August 2002 LRA amendments insofar as probationary periods are concerned.

Dismissal for poor work performance is less onerous during probation than is required thereafter; very few employers are aware of this provision in the LRA, and even fewer understand how to take advantage of this provision.

Relatively recent case law has also cast light on the application of restraint-of-trade clauses on the mobility of ex-employees.

Employee e-mail and Internet usage is a problematic aspect of employer-employee relations; over time, greater clarity on how to confront this thorny issue has evolved.

Discipline and dismissal remains the single biggest source of labour disputes, with four out of five labour disputes being referred on grounds of alleged unfair dismissal.

Unfolding case law and the management of this tricky area of labour relations has spawned a body of best practice which addresses how cumulative discipline ought to be applied and how disciplinary procedures should be structured; appeal procedures too have benefited from best practice thinking.

With mergers and acquisitions continuing in prominence, retrenchment continues to be a daily agenda item in labour relations. As is to be expected, relatively widespread redundancies and retrenchments in recent years have yielded a set of best practices to maximise the prospects of fairness in such processes and simultaneously minimise litigation risk.

It's also true to say that important guidelines have developed regarding the management of trade union relationships. Both business and labour now have a historical relationship which is long enough to have produced guidelines as to what promotes the interests of such a relationship, and what doesn't.

Best practice has undoubtedly evolved when it comes to the extending of organisational and collective bargaining rights.



To register for a "Best practice in labour relations" workshop (June 7) call 011-476-1620 or e-mail healy@global.co.za