Insights on South African labour law.
Practical guidance, case lessons and updates — straight from 20 years at the CCMA coalface.
Two companies under one roof
When one workplace starts operating like two different companies A Labour Law Sherpa perspective on trust, autonomy, consistency and workplace culture. You can have two departments in the same building, working for the same employer, under the same policies — and yet create two completely different employee experiences.One group is expected to clock every movement. The other is trusted to manage its own time. One employee is questioned when they arrive late. Another is simply assumed12:12 AM...
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The Royal We: When Managers Create the Wrong Allegiance
How much time do organisations actually spend teaching managers what it means to speak with one voice? There is a strange contradiction in management. We expect managers to represent the interests of the organisation, implement its decisions, manage employees fairly and consistently, and take responsibility for the people they lead. At the same time, many managers believe that being a good manager means being popular with their employees. That is where things can start to go wrong. The...
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The Best Person Gets Promoted — But Are They Ready to Manage People?
There is a management mistake I see repeatedly in businesses. Someone is exceptionally good at their job. They are the best salesperson. The most technically capable employee. The person who consistently delivers. The person everyone knows can be relied upon. So the business promotes them. Suddenly, they are a manager. And then everyone discovers something uncomfortable: Being good at the job and being good at managing people are two completely different skill sets. The promotion changes the...
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How to Prepare for a CCMA Arbitration
If conciliation hasn't settled a dispute, the next step at the CCMA is arbitration — a formal, evidence-led hearing where a commissioner makes a binding decision. For employers, the result often comes down to one thing: preparation. Walking in unprepared is the single biggest reason employers lose cases they should have won. A practical guide to getting your documents, witnesses and evidence ready before the day.
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Section 189 Explained: The Retrenchment Consultation Process
When a South African business needs to retrench for operational reasons, the law sets out a consultation process that must be followed before anyone is let go. This process — section 189 of the Labour Relations Act — is where most retrenchment disputes are won or lost. Here's what it means in plain terms: who you must consult, what the consultation must cover, and why good faith matters so much.
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The Retrenchment Process in South Africa, Step by Step
Retrenchment is one of the hardest things a business has to do — and one of the most legally exposed. When the reasons are financial, emotions run high, and any employee who believes the process was unfair can take it to the CCMA. This step-by-step guide walks employers through a fair retrenchment: identifying the operational requirement, consulting in good faith, applying fair selection criteria, getting notice and severance right, and staying defensible if challenged.
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What Must Be in a South African Employment Contract
A written employment contract is one of the simplest protections a South African business can put in place — and one of the most commonly neglected. Every employee is entitled to written particulars of employment, and a clear, industry-appropriate contract heads off countless disputes before they start. Here's the checklist: the legal must-haves every contract needs, plus the clauses that actually protect your business.
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Disciplinary Hearing Mistakes That Cost Employers at the CCMA
Most unfair-dismissal findings at the CCMA don't happen because the employer had no case — they happen because of avoidable mistakes in the disciplinary hearing. After chairing more than 800 inquiries, the same errors come up again and again: vague charges, too little notice, a partial chairperson, inconsistent treatment. Here are the mistakes that most often cost South African employers — and how to avoid each one.
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When Is a Dismissal Fair in South Africa?
Knowing when a dismissal is fair is the difference between parting ways cleanly and facing a costly claim at the CCMA. The law's test is stricter than many business owners expect: a fair dismissal needs both a good enough reason and a fair process — miss either and the dismissal can be found unfair, even when the employee was clearly in the wrong. A plain-English guide to the two halves of fairness and the three fair reasons to dismiss.
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Ill-Health Incapacity vs Poor Performance: An Employer’s Guide
One of the most common and costly mistakes South African employers make is treating an incapacity matter as if it were misconduct. Incapacity is not about fault — it's about an employee who genuinely cannot do their job, through ill health or an inability to meet the standard. This guide explains how the two processes differ, what a fair ill-health and poor-performance process looks like, and why getting the distinction wrong lands employers at the CCMA.
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The CCMA Process Explained for Employers
For many South African employers, a letter from the CCMA is the first sign that a dismissal is being challenged — and the start of a process that can end in compensation or reinstatement if it's mishandled. Understanding the CCMA process before you're in it is the best way to protect your business. Here's how it works, step by step: referral, conciliation, certificate of outcome, arbitration and the binding award.
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Chairperson vs Initiator in a Disciplinary Hearing: Who Does What
One of the most common reasons disciplinary hearings fall apart is a confusion of roles. When the same person investigates, presents the case and decides the outcome, the hearing looks — and often is — unfair. Understanding the difference between the chairperson and the initiator is fundamental to running a process that holds up: the initiator presents management's case, the chairperson decides impartially, and keeping the two separate is what protects your outcome at the CCMA.
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How to Run a Disciplinary Hearing in South Africa: A Step-by-Step Guide
Knowing how to run a disciplinary hearing is one of the most important skills an employer or manager can have — and one of the easiest to get wrong. Get the process right and you can deal with misconduct fairly and confidently. Get it wrong and even a clearly guilty employee can have their dismissal overturned at the CCMA, costing your business compensation or reinstatement. This guide walks through the process step by step — from investigation and charges to the chairperson's decision.
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Disciplinary Hearings & Manager BehaviourWhen Discipline Becomes a Pressure Tool: Lessons for Managers.
Most corporate policies promise fairness, respect, accountability, or some variation of these values. They look good on posters and intranet pages. But when managers don’t live them, they quickly become rules that apply only downward. Nothing fractures trust faster than leadership demanding values-driven behaviour while treating those values as optional for themselves. It becomes almost Orwellian: all employees are equal, but some are more equal than others. Disciplinary hearings often expose...
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Arbitration in Labour Disputes: What You Need to Know
Arbitration in Labour Disputes: What You Need to Know When it comes to resolving labour disputes, arbitration is a crucial process that...
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