When is a third party liable for labour law transgressions?

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BY   Ivan Israelstam, Chief Executive of Labour Law Management Consulting. He may be contacted on 0828522973 or on e-mail address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Where two entities are conducting themselves as one enterprise they may, under certain circumstances, be held liable for ill treatment of each other’s employees.

In the case of Foorwear Trading cc vs Mdladlose (CLL Vol. 15 No. 1 August 2005) a very different decision was made. When Mdladlose was dismissed she sued her employer, Fila (Pty) Ltd at CCMA. The arbitrator found the dismissal to be unfair and ordered reinstatement with full back pay. When the employer failed to comply with the award the employee went to Labour Court citing both Fila and its associate company, Footwear Trading. She asked the Court to order compliance with the CCMA award and to find Footwear Trading jointly liable because, while Fila had dismissed her, Footwear had:

• been the one to institute disciplinary proceedings against her
• faxed a pre-arbitration document to her union
• applied for a subpoena in her case
• the same owners as Fila
• the same address as Fila
• included its name on her payslip

Footwear Trading denied any significant link with Fila claiming that it merely did administrative work for Fila. However, the Court found

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Understanding the five dimensions of Learning Agility

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Your Learning Agility can be defined as your ability to develop new, effective behaviour when faced with new experiences. Those who are high on Learning Agility are more likely to actively embrace new challenges, seek out constructive feedback, recognize patterns in unfamiliar situations and effectively engage others in understanding experiences.

Some people are naturally more Learning Agile – embracing ambiguity, uncertainty and mental challenges. Others are more reluctant to venture into the unknown, preferring to stick to the familiar. Neither approach is wrong or right. One thing is clear however - in the face of the increasing pace of change in the workplace, it is important to try and develop your Learning Agility as much as possible.

Click here to participate in the Learning Agility in HR South African Research Study.

The five Learning Agility dimensions:

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Unfair Labour Practice: Job Grading

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Every employee has the right not to be: (a) unfairly dismissed or (b) subjected to an unfair labour practice.  Section 186(2) of the Labour Relations Act66 of 1995 defines an unfair labour practice in more detail:  “Unfair labour practice” means any unfair act or omission that arises between an employer and an employee involving – 

• unfair conduct by the employer relating to the promotion, demotion, probation (excluding disputes about dismissals for a reason relating to probation) or training of an employee or relating to the provision of benefits to an employee; 

• the unfair suspension of an employee or any other unfair disciplinary action short of dismissal in respect of an employee; 

• a failure or refusal by an employer to reinstate or re-employ a former employee in terms of any agreement; and 

• an occupational detriment, other than dismissal, in contravention of the Protected 

• Disclosures Act, 2000 (Act No. 26 of 2000), on account of the employee having made a protected disclosure defined in that Act.

Tshabalala v University of South Africa(2018) 9 BALR 1032 (CCMA)is a recent arbitration decision that highlighted an unfair labour practice which related to remuneration and job grading. An employee after commencing employment with her employer as a switchboard operator was elevated to the post of project manager.

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