6th JANUARY 2016

Dear All. Welcome back to work.

It is going to be an interesting year on the labour front and we expect enormous pressure at the workplace. Firstly we wish everybody compliments of the season and we trust that all of us who are lucky enough to have employment are re-invigorated for 2016.

We are going to face elections in May or June which will place enormous pressure on the political front which in turn will affect many relationships at work. We can also expect a few strikes leading up to the elections from various Trade Unions to make their mark.

With the downward pressure on the economy, many of our employers have to reconsider implementing change to the terms and conditions of employment and in some case these changes may have to be unilaterally done.

Changes to terms and conditions of employment would obviously be done in consultation with the Union and the employees and if no Union, with the employees directly. If employees’ conditions of employment are changed to the detriment of that employee the employer has to go through various steps. As stated above firstly the employer must consult the affected individuals (or that one person) and explain to that person as to why it is necessary to implement the change. This change might mean earning far less for working longer hours. After these discussions have come to an end and if there is still no agreement then the employer has various choices to make. Firstly the employer could embark upon a retrenchment consultation process in terms of Section 189 of the Labour Relations Act. In essence, if the change is for operational reasons and the whole position has become redundant and the employee is not willing to accept a new position then retrenchment is the obvious route to go. The offer of short time or lesser salary is an alternative to the potential retrenchment. Once again if the employee still does not accept the alternative to the retrenchment and once the employer has completed the consultation process then the employee would be dismissed due to the operational requirements. In many cases the employer can lock the employee out until that employee agrees to the changes. This is a much more hazardous route and it would be recommended to go through Section 189 of the LRA instead.

Despite the pressure on the economy we don’t expect the Department of Labour to come to the employer’s help we certainly don’t expect there to be any amendments to the Labour legislation which could help in job creation.

Michael Bagraim
BAGRAIMS ATTORNEYS