Labour law, made practical for employers
Plain-English guides and news on the questions South African employers actually face — CCMA referrals, disciplinary hearings, retrenchments, contracts and more. Written by our IR specialists.
Guides
Can You Suspend an Employee Pending a Disciplinary Hearing?
Precautionary suspension on full pay is a legitimate tool — unpaid, open-ended or punitive suspension is a CCMA claim waiting to happen.
GuideDo You Have to Pay Out Leave When an Employee Leaves?
Annual leave is a debt you owe, not a privilege you can withdraw - and dismissing someone for misconduct does not wipe it out. Here is what the BCEA requires, and how to calculate it.
GuideDismissing an Employee on Probation — Getting It Right
You can dismiss on less compelling reasons during probation. You still cannot dismiss on no reasons, no evaluation and no record — which is exactly what most day-89 decisions look like.
GuideConstructive Dismissal: What Actually Counts
An unhappy employee who resigns is not automatically constructively dismissed. But if you ignored the grievance they lodged three months ago, you are going to struggle to say so.
GuideThe Consistency Trap: Treating Employees Differently for the Same Offence
You can prove the misconduct and still lose the case, because two years ago you gave someone else a written warning for exactly the same thing.
GuideWarnings: How Long Do They Last and When Can You Rely on Them?
Most employers lose the dismissal, not the misconduct. The warning was expired, unsigned, for a different offence, or never actually handed over.
GuideDo You Need Written Employment Contracts? (BCEA Requirements)
The law says give every employee written particulars. The real reason to do it is that at arbitration, the employer without a contract is the employer without a version of events.
GuideA CCMA Letter Arrived — What Should an Employer Do?
A CCMA referral is not a letter you can file and forget. Miss the date and a commissioner can rule against you without hearing a word from your side.
GuideHow to Retrench Fairly in South Africa: The Section 189 Process
Retrenchment is a consultation, not an announcement. Genuine financial distress won't save a defective process — here is how to run Section 189 properly.
GuideAn Employee Stopped Coming to Work — Can I Remove Them From Payroll?
An employee vanishes and you quietly delete them from payroll — that is a dismissal with no process, and the CCMA will treat it exactly that way.
GuideCan I Fire Someone for Theft? What Employers Must Do First
Theft can justify dismissal on a first offence — but only if you run the process. Walk someone out on the spot and you hand them the case.
GuideHow to Run a Disciplinary Hearing in South Africa (Step by Step)
The hearing is where a CCMA case is won or lost — weeks before the referral. Here is how to run one that holds up.
GuidePoor Performance vs Misconduct: Which Process Applies?
Charge a poor performer as a wrongdoer and you will lose. The two run on completely different tracks — here is which is which.