Article 13/2023

What is the extent of the duty on a person when applying for a job to disclose the circumstances under which his or her employment with a previous employer had been terminated?

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  • In Intercape Ferreira Mainliner (Pty) Ltd v McWade and Others (2019) 30 SALLR 148 (LC), it was held that, when applying for a job, there is a duty to disclose the circumstances under which employment with a previous employer was terminated if it is material to the prospective employer’s decision whether to employ such person or not
  • In similar vein, in Ndudane v Premier of Eastern Cape (2022) 33 SALLR 6 (ECB), it was held that an employee has an absolute duty to disclose such facts that are within his or her knowledge, which are material to a prospective employer’s decision whether to employ him or her

What is an employer to do when it suspects that a medical practitioner is issuing pre- signed sick notes, or permitting its employees to buy sick notes, or, alternatively, is engaging in some other dubious practice regarding the issue of sick notes? What is an employer to do when it suspects that a person is not entitled to practice as a medical doctor?

Are you required to interpret any of the following: pre-trial minutes, strike ballot guidelines, the LRA, a separation agreement, a benefits dispute, an arbitration award, the BCEA, a restraint of trade, a traditional disciplinary enquiry charge sheet, the constitution of a trade union, etc?

The labour appeal court recently, in Murray and Roberts Cementation (Pty) Ltd v AMCU obo Dube and Others (2024) 35 SALLR 116 (LAC), confirmed important principles relating to the formulation of traditional charge sheets, determining the
fairness of a dismissal, the interpretation of a charge sheet and the reason(s) relied upon by the employer to justify the dismissal of an employee.