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Article 18/2025

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?

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The labour appeal court, in Woolworths (Pty) Ltd v CCMA and Others [2024] 8 BLLR 881 (LAC); (2024) 45 ILJ 2270 (LAC), provided the following guidelines in the above regard:

  • the employer is required to investigate the matter and report it to the relevant authorities, including the Health Professions Council of South Africa, the South African Medical and Dental Council and the Health Science Academy (if the practitioner holds a dispensing certificate);
  • the idea that an employee, who happens to go to a doctor who is not trusted (or a person suspected of not being a medical practitioner), must be subjected to a disciplinary process for utilising the services of such person is rejected – at the very least, the employer should investigate these suspicions and, if the suspicions are well-founded, the employee should be warned against using the particular doctor;
  • at all relevant times, the investigation into the alleged conduct should be conducted by the relevant entities as identified above.
October 19, 2026

Section 41(2) of the BCEA regulates the entitlement of an employee, dismissed for reasons based on the employer’s operational requirements, to severance pay.

In terms of s41(4) of the BCEA, an employee, who unreasonably refused to accept the employer’s offer of alternative employment with that employer or any other employer, is not entitled to severance pay ito s41(2).

How does the assistance provided by the retrenching employer to a retrenched employee affect such employee’s entitlement to severance pay?

October 12, 2026

What is the short test to be applied to determine whether there is compliance with the reasonable decision-maker test?

When determining whether or not the arbitrator of the CCMA or bargaining council behaved like a reasonable decision-maker, what are the ‘questions to be asked’?

What is the test recently applied to determine whether an arbitration award should be set aside on review?

October 5, 2026

In the scenario where a group of employees, participating in a demonstration, picket, strike, etc, are participating in unlawful conduct, but a number of other employees, who are also participating in such demonstration, picket, strike, etc, are not participating in such unlawful conduct, will the employer be entitled to obtain an interdict against both groups of such employees?