Labour Law Update – The Temporary Employer Relief Scheme:
On Thursday, 26 March 2020, the Minister for Employment and Labour, Thembelani Nxesi, issued a Directive entitled ‘Covid- l9 Temporary Employee/Employer Relief Scheme, 2020’ to the general public (the “Directive”). The underlying rationale for the issuing of the Directive is founded on the immense impact the President’s declaration of a national lockdown, and the Regulations imposed in terms of section 27(3) of the Disaster Management Act, have had on the continued trading and commercial viability of especially small to medium enterprises and those entities whose businesses operations are considered to be ‘non-essential’.
Survival in the time of Covid-19: A basic guide for employers on retrenchment and alternative resolution mechanisms
The rapidly evolving Covid-19 pandemic and the recent declaration by the President of the Republic of South Africa that a nationwide lockdown will be imposed for a period of 21 days to commence at midnight on 26 March 2020, will have severe and far-reaching implications for South African employers, especially those classed as small to more...
Covid-19: Health and safety in the workplace
The Occupational Health and Safety Act, No. 85 of 1993 (“the Act”) aims to ensure the wellbeing, health and safety of employees in the workplace. In light of the seriousness of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is important to consider the effects the spread of the virus may have on the South African employer and specifically more...
The path of least resistance: whether to litigate by action or application?
As litigation attorneys, one of the first substantial decisions to be made when taking on a new litigious instruction, assuming that the client is the party launching the legal proceedings, is inevitably whether the matter should commence via action, in other words via the issuing of summons, or via application, through the delivery of a more...
The ‘Give and Take’ of the The Employment Equity Amendment Bill, 2018 (the “Bill”)
The Employment Equity Amendment Bill, 2018 (the “Bill”) and draft Employment Equity Regulations (the “EE Regulations”) are a direct consequence of the Department of Labour’s twenty-year review into the effectiveness of the Employment Equity Act, 55 of 1998 (the “EEA”). Although the provisions introduced by the Bill are not yet fully enforceable, their implications for more...
Protecting the ‘unbanked’
In March 2018 the Western Cape High Court delivered a judgment on the validity and effectiveness of the financial assessment mechanisms prescribed by the National Credit Act 34 of 2005 (“the NCA”). This financial assessment is obligatory to all considerations of affordability prior to the extension of credit to a consumer by the relevant credit more...
Security Measures under the Protection of Personal Information Act (“POPI”)
The recent proliferation of digital hacking and other associated forms of cybercrime has exponentially increased the need for the development of substantial and comprehensive data protection mechanisms in South Africa. The majority of modern South Africans conduct a plethora of personal and business transactions online which in-turn results in the continuous processing and storage of more...
Paternity Rights: Finally a reality
For many years the prevailing body of case law and statutory development in the area of leave occasioned by the birth or prospective birth of a child has dealt almost exclusively with maternity and not paternity rights. The law as it stands on maternity leave is well known and governed by the corresponding provisions of more...