If you are a seasoned manager / HR practitioner and comfortable that your employment relations are fair and comply with labour law provisions, good for you! But - you may not be as secure as you think. Recent case law developments have made it clear that employers need to be aware of many more employment-related risks which fall outside of the labour law arena.
The employment contract is a hybrid between labour law and contractual / common law. This means that the contents
Read more: Are you sufficiently protected against employment-related claims?
There is a common refrain in board rooms across the world: the cost and effort invested in performance review systems is not paying off. Time-consuming and onerous, current processes are failing to improve efficiencies, grow top line growth or empower employees to perform better.
The bottom line is that review systems are not cutting it. The annual, or bi-annual ritual, is hated by both managers and employees. The form-filling and meetings breed resentment and are only adhered to because it is company policy and everyone, from the CEO down, does not dare question the efficacy of the process.
Performance reviews have become the sacred cows of corporate life. After all, they are seen as key to improving efficiencies, increasing productivity and growing top line, all no brainers for any corporate. They are also meant to enable companies to retain and develop the best people.
The crisp question is: why are conventional review systems not working?
BY Ivan Israelstam, Chief Executive of Labour Law Management Consulting. He may be contacted on (011) 888-7944 or 0828522973 or on e-mail address:
The Labour Relations Act (LRA) does not use the term ‘shop steward’ at all. Instead the term “trade union representative” (TUR) is used. A shop steward or TUR is an employee elected by the trade union members employed at the workplace. That is, the TUR is an ordinary employee chosen by his/her fellow workers to represent them in their dealings with management.
‘Shop steward’ is merely another name for a TUR and anyone elected to such a post can have both substantial influence over the workers. A TUR may, for example, be mandated by the union members to negotiate annual wage increases with the employer. If the elected TUR does not understand business economics and has a militant attitude he/she could ferment work stoppages, go-slows, work-to-rule, protests, premises blockades, sit-ins or even industrial sabotage. This can be disastrous for the employer and employees.
A less militant and more insightful shop steward will be able to represent employee interests effectively without unduly risking the viability of the business and the job security of the employees.
Even when employees belong to trade unions it is not always compulsory for the employer to recognise shop stewards. That is, the employer does not always have to agree to accept the election of and to interact with shop stewards. Before the trade union can legally force the employer to recognise shop stewards as worker representatives the trade union first has to:
BY lvan lsraelstam, Chief Executive of Labour Law Management Consulting. He may be contacted on (011) 888-7944 or 0828522973 or on e-mail address:
Codes of different types constitute a substantial part of labour legislation. Therefore, HR and IR practitioners need to ensure that these codes are properly understood and implemented by management. Labour legislation contains, amongst others, codes on retrenchment, picketing of strikers, sexual harassment and dismissal.
But what is a code? Is it a law or is it something less than a law? The Collins Concise Dictionary defines a code as “a conventionalised set of principles or rules”. This implies that a code is similar to a law and must be obeyed. However, many employers treat the South African labour-related codes as mere guidelines because the word ‘should’ is used instead of the word
Read more: HR & IR PROFESSIONALS MUST ENSURE THAT EMPLOYERS HAVE DISCIPLINARY CODES
Employees who are on maternity leave can increase the workload for the rest of the division and in certain situations it is not viable to appoint a temporary employee. However, pregnant women have the right to take maternity leave, but it comes with challenges for both the employee and the employer.
“Maternity leave can be implemented to the benefit of both employer and employee,” says Anja Hartman, HR Director of Sage VIP. Hartman shares some insights based on her experience, as at Sage VIP approximately 3% of the female employees are on maternity leave at any given time.
Create a maternity leave policy tailored to the business culture
There are certain labour law specifications that need to be taken into consideration; however companies can
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