First published in 1996, Workplace Law has become one of the most widely used and frequently quoted textbooks on South African labour law. This 13th edition has been revised and supplemented to incorporate the latest case law, as well as the latest amendments to labour legislation.

Workplace Law provides a complete overview of issues that have arisen and are likely to arise on the shop floor, in court and in arbitration proceedings – from unfair labour practices, through employment equity, dismissal and collective bargaining, to strikes. Students, HR and IR practitioners, lawyers, employers, employees and trade union officials will find this updated, comprehensive and reliable work a convenient and indispensable guide to a complex and fascinating area of law. Workplace Law is also available in electronic form in Juta’s Labour Law Library, where it is updated quarterly.

PART A: SOURCES

Chapter 1: Introduction

• Common-law origins
• Shortcomings of the common law
• Statutory modification of the common law
• The effect of the Constitution
• The main labour statutes
• Statutory bodies
• Sources of labour law
• Which law applies

PART B: THE INDIVIDUAL EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP

Chapter 2: The parties to the employment relationship

• Identifying the parties
• The common-law contract
• Statutory definitions
• Judicial tests
• Statutory employees and employers

Chapter 3: The individual contract of employment

• Formation
• Essentials
• The agreement
• Formalities
• Commencement
• Contents
• Tacit and implied terms
• Incorporated terms and conditions
• The parties
• Variation
• Duration
• The employer’s power of command
• Legality
• Breach.
• Termination

Chapter 4: Basic conditions of employment

• Application
• Remuneration
• Working hours
• Annual leave
• Sick leave
• Parental leave
• Family responsibility leave
• Sundays and public holidays
• Notice of termination of employment
• Payments on termination
• Certificate of service
• Enforcement

PART C: UNFAIR LABOUR PRACTICES AND EMPLOYMENT EQUITY

Chapter 5: Unfair labour practice

• The definition of ‘unfair labour practice’
• Unfair conduct
• Promotion
• Demotion
• Training
• Benefits
• Disciplinary action short of dismissal and suspension
• Whistleblowers
• Failure to re-employ in terms of an agreement
• Other forms of possible unfair labour practice
• Failure to appoint
• Pension rights
• Transfer of employees
• Equal treatment claims

Chapter 6: Unfair discrimination

• Introduction
• The anti-discrimination provision
• What is discrimination?
• Direct and indirect discrimination
• Applicants for employment
• The prohibited grounds
• Specific grounds of discrimination
• Defences against discrimination claims
• Recruitment and selection
• Remuneration and benefits
• Harassment     
• Medical testing
• Dispute resolution
• Remedies

Chapter 7: Affirmative action

• The equity plan
• Preparing the plan
• The report
• Income differentials
• Enforcement
• Penalties

PART D: DISCIPLINE AND DISMISSAL

Chapter 8: Workplace discipline

• Management’s disciplinary authority
• The role of discipline
• Disciplinary rules and standards
• Sanctions
• Disciplinary procedures

Chapter 9: Forms of dismissal

• Introduction
• What is ‘dismissal’?
• Termination with or without notice
• Non-renewal of fixed-term contracts
• Termination on the grounds of pregnancy or maternity leave
• Selective non-re-employment
• Constructive dismissal
• Section 197 dismissals
• Terminations that do not constitute dismissals
•  Where the employment relationship survives termination of the contract

Chapter 10: Dismissal under the LRA

• Fair reason
• Fair procedure
• Onus
• Codes of good practice
• Date of dismissal

Chapter 11: Automatically unfair dismissals

•  Section 187
• Dismissals contrary to s 5
• Strike dismissals and additional work during strikes
• Dismissals in support of an employer’s demand
• Pregnancy
• Family responsibility
• Discriminatory dismissals
• Transfers of businesses
• Whistleblowers

Chapter 12: Dismissal for misconduct: Fair reason

• Substantive fairness
• Particular disciplinary offences

Chapter 13: Dismissal for misconduct: Fair procedure

• Investigation
• Requirements of a fair hearing
• Collective hearings
• ‘Double jeopardy’
• ‘Review’ by management
• Appeal
• When disciplinary hearings may be dispensed with
• Estoppel or waiver
• Consequences of procedural unfairness

Chapter 14: Dismissal for poor work performance, incompatibility and incapacity

• Poor work performance
• Unsuitability and incompatibility
• Ill health, injury or other incapacitating conditions

Chapter 15: Dismissal for operational requirements

• ‘Operational requirements’
• Pre-termination consultation
• Disclosure of information
• Who takes the final decision – and when?
• Fair selection criteria
• Severance pay
• Offers of re-employment.
• Retrenchments under s 189A
• Retrenchments of single employees and by small employers

Chapter 16: Remedies

• Remedies for unfair dismissals
• Remedies for unfair labour practices
• Claims against insolvent companies

Chapter 17: Closures, mergers and sales of businesses

• Section 197
• ‘Transfer of business as a going concern’
• Date of transfer
• Effects of transfer
• Conditions of employment of transferred employees
• Collective agreements and awards
• The duties of the transferring employer
• Obligations on the employers after the transfer
• Transfers in circumstances of insolvency

PART E: COLLECTIVE LABOUR LAW

Chapter 18: Collective labour law: An introduction

• Individual and collective labour law
• Historical background
• Interpretation
• Principal aims of the LRA
• Promotion of collective bargaining

Chapter 19: Bargaining agents

• Trade unions
• Employers’ organisations

Chapter 20: Bargaining forums

• Workplace forums
• Bargaining councils
• Statutory councils
• Dispute resolution by councils
• Domestic bargaining forums

Chapter 21: The bargaining process

• What is collective bargaining?
• Background
• Recognition
• A duty to bargain?
• Bargaining thresholds
• Bargaining subjects
• Bargaining units
• Bargaining levels
• Bargaining conduct
• The duration of the duty to bargain

Chapter 22: Collective agreements

• Definition
• Force and effect
• Transfers of collective agreements
• Collective agreements and contracts of service
• Collective agreements and statutory rights
• Recognition agreements
• Bargaining council agreements
• Interpretation of collective agreements
• Rectification of collective agreements
• Termination of collective agreements

PART F: INDUSTRIAL ACTION

Chapter 23: Strikes and protest action

• Definition of strike
• Protest action
• Protected (legal) and unprotected (illegal) strikes and protest action
• The requirements for protection
• The extent of protection
• Employers’ options during protected strikes
• Employers’ remedies against unprotected strikes

Chapter 24: Dismissal of unprotected strikers

• Non-compliance with the LRA
• Unjustified conduct by the employer
• Contact with the union
• Fair ultimatum
• The duration of the strike
• The harm caused by the strike
• The legitimacy of the strike
• The timing of the strike
• Whether the strikers were given hearings
• The parties’ conduct before and during the strike
• Selective dismissal
• The parties’ conduct after the strike

Chapter 25: Lock-outs

• A right to lock out?
• What is a ‘lock-out’?
• Requirements for a legal lock-out
• Effects of a legal lock-out
• Effects of an unlawful lock-out
• Lock-out dismissals

PART G: FORUMS AND PROCEDURES

Chapter 26: Dispute resolution

• The Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration
• Bargaining councils
• The Labour Court
• The Labour Appeal Court
• Labour inspectors
• Private dispute resolution
• The Equality Court
• The High Court
• The Supreme Court of Appeal
• The Constitutional Court

Table of cases

Subject index

• Students
• HR and IR practitioners
• Legal practitioners
• Employers
• Employees 
• Trade union officials
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