Archive for the ‘Academic’ Category
by Simon on May 7th, 2013
Legal expert Lenja Dahms-Jansen was interviewed for a Polity article on achieving a balance between “an employer’s rights to privacy, dignity and reputation against an employee’s right to freedom of expression,” when it comes to the use of social media in the workplace.
Dahms-Jansen advises that a clear-cut social media policy should be drafted and implemented by HR practitioners. An employee’s right to freedom of expression does not amount to “an unfettered right to defame others”. But at the same time, each case should be examined on its own merits and care should be taken not to breach the employee’s privacy rights as enshrined in the Regulation of Interception and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act.
As much as employers stand to benefit from the ease, speed and cost-effectiveness of social media, economic gains can be just as quickly lost on industrial and public relations crises, as well as litigation, where the use of social media is not properly managed.
According to Lenja Dahms-Jansen, associate at pan-African legal services group Bowman Gillfillan, “While social media may differ from traditional methods of business and marketing, its regulation in the workplace involves the same issues that HR practitioners grapple with on a daily basis, such as balancing an employer’s rights to privacy, dignity and reputation against an employee’s right to freedom of expression.”
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eBook: Labour Law Rules! by Mpfariseni Budeli, Ernest Manamela, Tukishi Manamela, Clarence Tshoose, edited by Marié McGregor, Adriette Dekker
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EAN: 9781920025489
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by Simon on May 2nd, 2013
In an article for Polity, Ivan Israelstam writes that retrenchments are on the rise due to the economic down-turn, as well as crime and corruption, which deters foreign investors.
In light of the increased employee cut-backs, Istraelstam addresses certain “retrenchment myths” such as: “Employers are allowed to retrench merely because profits have dropped slightly or are expected to drop slightly” and “As long as the employer has a good reasons it can go ahead and retrench whenever it likes”.
For more on labour law and the procedures that need to be followed in the case of retrenchment, consult Labour Law Rules and CCMA: A commentary on the rules.
Already during 2009 we have received dozens of calls from employers who have retrenched employees and are being taken to the CCMA, bargaining council or Labour Court. As the current economic downturn has only just begun retrenchments are likely to spiral over the next year and beyond.
Exacerbating the effect of the economic downturn is the rampant culture of crime that our government only talks about addressing. In contrast to this ‘talk’ of addressing crime we have excessively high levels of violent crime and of corruption. We also have political leaders tainted with misdeeds and alleged misdeeds being allowed to run for election. These facts deter those foreign investors who might have considered bringing labour intensive projects to South Africa.
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eBook: Labour Law Rules! by Mpfariseni Budeli, Ernest Manamela, Tukishi Manamela, Clarence Tshoose, edited by Marié McGregor, Adriette Dekker
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EAN: 9781920025489
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by Simon on Apr 12th, 2013
Chantelle Benjamin reports in the Mail & Guardian that the South African Revenue Service (Sars) is clamping down on tax avoidance efforts by global companies in South Africa. The pharmaceutical, finance, mining and automotive sectors will be priority areas for investigation in the 2013/14 financial year.
For more on tax laws, consult International Tax 2011: A South African Perspective and Business Tax and Company Law Quarterly.
The South African Revenue Service (Sars) said this week that it plans to increase its scrutiny of multinationals when it comes to tax compliance, particularly with regard to transfer pricing and double taxation, which it has identified as a problem.
Sars spokesperson Adrian Lackay said on Wednesday that the African Tax Administration Forum, of which South Africa is the chair, “was co-operating to ensure there is greater synergy [among tax authorities]” to halt tax avoidance among companies operating in Africa.
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by Simon on Mar 1st, 2013
In his budget speech on Wednesday, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said that a revised youth employment incentive will be tabled in Parliament, which will see businesses receiving a tax break for employing young graduates. Along with the government’s existing training and skills development programmes, this step is aimed at reducing youth unemployment in the country.
Tabling his 2013 Budget in the National Assembly on Wednesday, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said a revised youth employment incentive would be tabled in the National Assembly, together with a proposed employment incentive for SEZs.
Addressing a media briefing before he tabled the budget, Gordhan explained that it would include a tax break for employers, who would “get some money back through the PAYE system”.
The National Treasury has proposed the introduction of a youth employment tax incentive to assist South Africa’s young work seekers in gaining valuable work experience and access to employment.
“Following careful consideration of inputs from various stakeholders, a revised youth employment incentive will be tabled in the House [Parliament], together with a proposed employment incentive for special economic zones,” Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said in his 2013 Budget address to Parliament on Wednesday.
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by Simon on Feb 28th, 2013
Small business owners are in for some much-needed tax relief following Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan’s budget speech yesterday.
Gordhan announced that the R14-million turnover threshold for small businesses will be increased to R20-million.
Idéle Esterhuizen of Polity reports that the current nontaxable income threshold of below R63 556 per year will be increased to below R67 111 per year. In Business Day, Angus Macmillan writes that “tax will be levied at 7% up to R365,000, at 21% up to R550,000 and at 28% above R550,001″.
The National Treasury has proposed a 15% corporate income tax rate for businesses in some of South Africa’s special economic zones (SEZs).
In Budget documents, tabled in Parliament by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan on Wednesday, he indicated he would authorise tax incentives in certain SEZs in the country after consultation with Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies.
THERE was some good news in Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan’s 2013-14 budget on Wednesday for qualifying small businesses and so-called “social impact firms”.
Their turnover threshold has been raised to R20m from R14m and the graduated tax structure has been revised.
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by Simon on Feb 21st, 2013
In an article for Polity, Ivan Israelstam lists some essential guidelines to help an employer prepare for a CCMA disciplinary hearing.
He states that one of the reasons that employers lose dismissal cases is failure to prepare, especially in cases that should never have been brought in for hearings in the first place.
CCMA: A commentary on the rules and Labour Law Rules! are still the go-to guides on what the law states.
While acting as a CCMA arbitrator and as the chairperson of disciplinary hearings over the past years I have noted numerous reasons why employers lose dismissal cases at the CCMA. In many cases the charges should never have been brought in the first place because:
• The employer took disciplinary action for personal reasons rather than for failing to comply with the employer’s rules or performance standards
• There was insufficient evidence against the accused to merit a guilty finding or to justify a dismissal
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eBook: Labour Law Rules! by Mpfariseni Budeli, Ernest Manamela, Tukishi Manamela, Clarence Tshoose, edited by Marié McGregor, Adriette Dekker
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EAN: 9781920025489
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by Simon on Jan 31st, 2013
Amplats has requested a CCMA facilitation between it and mining labour unions, as looming entrenchments face 14 000 workers. According to an article by Niall Reddy in Business Report, the retrenchments and closures come at a time when the company sees they are not capable of generating profit.
For the miners, this news could not come at a worse time. Previously the company shed 15 000 jobs with the closure of three shafts. Reddy feels there are solutions that could be laid out, but that they are not politically expedient, which basically spells out what is at the heart of the country’s economic woes.
Plans to restructure Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) will jeopardise the income of 14 000 workers and more than 100 000 dependants. In response, the call by the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) to nationalise its mines reflects growing consensus on the need for a drastic redirection in the sector and the economy on which it has such influence.
The tragedy engulfing mining over the past six months is best understood as a symptom of the minerals-energy complex. Ben Fine and Zavareh Rustomjee coined the term to refer to the nexus of monopolistic firms, rooted in mining but spreading over finance and other sectors, that stood historically at the centre of the South African economy.
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eBook: Labour Law Rules! by Mpfariseni Budeli, Ernest Manamela, Tukishi Manamela, Clarence Tshoose, edited by Marié McGregor, Adriette Dekker
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EAN: 9781920025489
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by Simon on Dec 5th, 2012
In Business Day, Jeremy Gauntlett has written a tribute to former Chief Justice Arthur Chaskalson, who passed away earlier this week at the age of 81.
Gauntlett, who is one of the contributors to Thinking about Law: Essays for Tony Honoré, wrote about Chaskalson’s high regard for rationality and his belief that law is only valuable if the people practicing it are doing so with a moral commitment to justice.
Arthur Chaskalson’s last public address was just weeks ago. It expressed two qualities he valued highly in others. The first is a relentless rationality. The second is that law is nothing if it is not underpinned by the moral commitment of those who work it.
Speaking to a packed audience of the Cape Law Society in Kimberley, he spoke out on the Legal Practice Bill. He did so in the tradition that judicial reticence on public issues ends when it comes to the rule of law itself. He said the structure the bill proposes opens the door “to important aspects being controlled by the executive” and that this was not only in conflict with international legal standards but was “inconsistent with an independent legal profession”.
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by Simon on Nov 8th, 2012
Polity.org have shared an article in their “Legal Briefs” segment written by Ivan lsraelstam, Chief Executive of Labour Law Management Consulting, which gives some basic information on the type of training line managers and supervisors need in order to understand how they are affected by LRA (Labour Relations Act) and whether their employees may have recourse with the CCMA (Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration) at some point.
Once they know when to use the CCMA, this knowledge can and must be transferred to the employees in their direct line of supervision, so they prevent inordinate use of the CCMA. For a comprehensive look at the LRA and CCMA rules, the books Labor Law Rules! and CCMA: A Commentary on the Rules.
In comparing those of our corporate clients which have poor employee relations with those where industrial relations are sound it is clear that, for the most part, the factor which makes the difference is the quality and breadth of IR skills held by the employer’s IR professionals, line management and external consultants.
A case in point is that of SALSTAFF obo Bezuidenhout vs Metrorail (2001 BALR 926). Here the arbitrator found that the employee had been forced to resign due to disciplinary charges brought against him. The employer dismissed the employee before his notice period was up but the arbitrator found that there was no good reason to have dismissed him. This convinced the arbitrator that the employee had been justified in resigning in order to avoid an unfair disciplinary hearing. The dismissal was found to be unfair.
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EAN: 9781920025489
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by Simon on Sep 28th, 2012
The country’s latest wave of strikes has seen the transportation sector affected. Business Day recently reported on what steps Satawu, the South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union, has taken, in light of the violent nature of the truckers’ strike. With negotiations stalled, and currently at a deadlock, the labour unions will have to decide on the way forward.
For more on the legal aspects of strikes and wage negotiations, consult Labour Law Rules!.
The South African Transport and Allied Workers’ Union (Satawu) sent a delegation to Ekurhuleni on Thursday to investigate problems being caused by striking truck drivers.
“We are investigating the situation and we are sending a delegation to see what is happening there,” Satawu spokesman Vincent Masoga said.
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eBook: Labour Law Rules! by Mpfariseni Budeli, Ernest Manamela, Tukishi Manamela, Clarence Tshoose, edited by Marié McGregor, Adriette Dekker
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EAN: 9781920025489
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