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Article 6/2026

LabourEdge

In line with the anticipated changes to the LRA and the BCEA, it is vitally important that practitioners appreciate what, firstly, their preparation and, secondly, their representation at the CCMA or bargaining council will entail if these changes go through.

What are the aspects that practitioners need to be aware of if these anticipated changes need to become law?

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Practitioners need to upskill their preparation and representation before the CCMA or bargaining council in respect of the following:

  • dealing with a request for the postponement of arbitration that will attract a ruling made by a commissioner that the party is to pay the CCMA fee
  • the effect of an arbitration award to be treated as an order of a magistrate’s court, or the labour court
  • the consequences of the anticipated provision that a fair procedure relating to dismissal, as set out in the LRA and amplified in the Code, is subject to an applicable collective agreement
  • the consequences of the requirement of substantive and procedural fairness not applying to new employees
  • the new protocols relating to an enquiry by an arbitrator
  • the commencement of arbitration immediately after certifying the dispute remains unresolved
  • the jurisdiction of the CCMA and bargaining council dealing with automatically unfair dismissals in terms of s187(d), s187(e) and s187(f) – a distinction between employees earning below and above the threshold in terms of s6(3) of the BCEA is also of relevance
  • the fact that reinstatement or re-employment is not applicable to an employee who earns more than the threshold determined ito s208B of the LRA (currently, R1.8m), unless the dismissal is automatically unfair
  • the new maximum anticipated compensation for unfair dismissals
  • the new maximum anticipated compensation for unfair labour practices
  • the limitation on an employee to institute a claim, arising from the same facts, based on an unfair dismissal, as well as an unlawful dismissal – and the obvious consequence that this is not applicable to unfair labour practices
  • the extended jurisdiction of the CCMA to deal with disputes concerning whether there has been compliance with the collective agreement – seeing that currently such jurisdiction is limited to the interpretation or application of a collective agreement and does not include its enforcement
  • the jurisdiction of the CCMA to undertake dispute resolution in terms of the newly statutorily-created category of employees, namely, on-call employees
  • the extended jurisdiction of the CCMA and bargaining councils to deal with any disputes regarding the entitlement of severance pay and not merely the application of s41 of the BCEA. This is particularly relevant in view of the approach that an employer is entitled, in circumstances where it assisted the employee to be retrenched in finding alternative employment, not to pay severance pay – with specific reference to Khanya Cleaning Group (Pty) Ltd v SA Transport and Allied Workers Union (2025) 36 SALLR 448 (LC)
  • the jurisdiction of the CCMA when, on good cause shown, an employer refers a dispute to the CCMA, outside the period within which it has to comply with a compliance order, to condone such late referral
  • the jurisdiction of the CCMA to deal with the employer’s failure to pay a contribution to a benefit fund on behalf of an employee
  • the jurisdiction of the CCMA when an employer fails to pay contributions to funds falling under the Pension Funds Act
  • the jurisdiction of the CCMA to deal with the extended definition of an employee in terms of s3(4)(a) of the BCEA Amendment Bill
  • the steps to be undertaken by a commissioner to determine whether the termination of a fixed-term contract amounts to a dismissal
  • the jurisdiction of the CCMA in terms of s198D of the LRA, dealing with the interpretation or application of s198A, s198B and s198C – after a declaratory order has been obtained from the CCMA or bargaining council in the above regard, the employee is not entitled to relief as part and parcel of the s189D process, but must claim relief separately
  • the rules regulating reinstatement/re-employment as the appropriate remedy, the burden of proof so applicable and the elements of the ‘test’ in this regard to be complied with

From the above, it is apparent that, if the anticipated changes to the LRA and the BCEA are indeed promulgated, there are a number of new and additional issues that practitioners will need to get to grapple with.

July 20, 2026

Precautionary suspensions

In the public sector, the Senior Management Service Handbook (SMS Handbook) directly addresses precautionary suspensions and the 60-day time limit.

Clause 2.7(2)(c) of the SMS Handbook provides that ‘If a member is suspended or transferred as a precautionary measure, the employer must hold a disciplinary hearing within 60 days. The chair of the hearing must then decide on any further postponement.’

Regulation 6 of the Local Government: Disciplinary Regulations Senior Managers, 2010 (Regulations) provides for the precautionary suspension of senior municipal employees and Regulation 6(6)(a) provides: ‘If a senior is suspended, a disciplinary hearing must commence within three months after the date of suspension, failing which the suspension will automatically lapse.’

What are the principles governing a determination of the question as to whether or not a senior municipal employee’s suspension automatically lapses in terms of the aforesaid Regulation 6(6)(a)?

Obviously, the answers to the aforesaid question are very relevant in the private sector where, firstly, a collective agreement regulates a similar process or, alternatively, such contractual rights have been created between the parties, to be enforced in terms of s77(3) of the BCEA.

July 13, 2026

In the previous article, we dealt with the consequences of a plant level collective agreement with a definite beginning and end date. We indicated to you that, in line with s23(2) of the LRA, and an analysis of the relevant case law, that, once such a collective agreement reaches its expiry date, it expires and is no longer of any force or effect. In this article, we deal with the scenario where a plant level collective agreement is concluded for an indefinite period and the employer gave notice to terminate same.

What are the consequences when a party to a plant level collective agreement, concluded for an indefinite time period, gives notice to terminate such collective agreement?

July 6, 2026

In terms of s23(2), a collective agreement binds, for the whole period of the collective agreement, every person so bound in terms of s23(1)(c) (the members of a registered trade union and the employers who are members of a registered employers’ organisation who are a party to the collective agreement, if the collective agreement regulates the terms and conditions of employment, or the conduct of the employers and employees) who was a member at the time it became binding, or who becomes a member after it became binding (irrespective of whether or not that person continues to be a member of such trade union or employers’ organisation for the duration of the collective agreement).

What is the relevant case law development as to a plant level collective agreement that has an expiry date, i e does such collective agreement continue to be of force and effect after such expiry date?