Most CCMA cases are lost by the manager who ran the hearing, not by the lawyer who defended it. We train the people who actually handle discipline, performance and grievances — so your business gets it right the first time.
A dismissal is only as strong as the process behind it. When a line manager runs a rushed or biased hearing, mislabels poor performance as misconduct, or fails to keep a record, a fair case becomes an unfair dismissal — with compensation of up to 12 months’ pay. Training the people on the floor is the cheapest insurance an employer can buy, and it pays for itself the first time it prevents one avoidable award.
Our training is practical and practitioner-led. It is built by people who represent employers at the CCMA and chair disciplinary hearings for a living, using your own policies and the situations your managers actually face — not generic theory.
How to run a fair, defensible hearing end to end — notice, evidence, the chairperson’s role, verdict and sanction, and the record that protects you.
How to prepare charges, lead evidence, cross-examine, and present the employer’s case so it holds up under scrutiny.
The incapacity route done right — counselling, performance improvement, and fair process, and why it is not the same as misconduct.
The core of South African labour law every front-line manager needs: contracts, working time, leave, discipline and dismissal.
How to receive and resolve grievances properly, defuse conflict early, and keep small issues out of the CCMA.
What to expect at conciliation and arbitration, how to prepare a bundle and witnesses, and how not to lose a winnable case.
These are working sessions, not lectures. A typical half-day runs on a simple pattern: the legal position in plain language, then the practical mechanics, then a live run-through using a scenario from your own workplace — a real charge sheet, a real set of facts — with delegates taking the roles of chairperson, initiator and employee representative. That role-play is where the learning sticks, because managers discover the awkward moments (an employee who refuses to plead, a shop steward who derails proceedings, evidence that arrives mid-hearing) in a training room instead of in a real hearing.
We use your disciplinary code and your templates, so what delegates practise on is exactly what they will use on Monday. Groups of up to about twelve work best — big enough for discussion, small enough that everyone participates.
After years of defending these matters, the same handful of errors come up again and again. They are all trainable:
Compensation for an unfair dismissal runs to a maximum of 12 months’ remuneration, and up to 24 months where the dismissal is automatically unfair — before you count reinstatement with back pay, the management hours consumed by an arbitration, and the operational disruption. Against that, training a group of managers is a modest, once-off spend that reduces the chance of the whole scenario arising. Most employers we train are doing it after an expensive loss; the cheaper time is before.
Training can also form part of your reported skills spend for the year — see Skills Development for how that feeds your WSP/ATR and B-BBEE scorecard.
Training is facilitated by Nicolene Schoonbee, who leads our labour law practice and facilitates training and skills development, alongside the ALG team.
Yes — at your premises across South Africa, or virtually. Sessions are tailored to your workplace and policies.
Most modules are a half-day or full-day, and can be combined into a multi-day package.
Yes, a certificate of attendance for each course, plus practical templates.
Yes. We build the training around your disciplinary code, policies and real situations.
Tell us your team size and the areas you want to strengthen, and we’ll put together a tailored quote.
This page is general information about South African labour law and is not legal advice for your specific matter.