Top stories
More news
Marketing & Media
Chicken Licken bravely debones a rare phobia with their latest campaign
Joe Public 2 days
Inability to provide employees with work during lockdown is not unfair labour practice
During the various stages of lockdown, many companies were not in the position to operate. Unfortunately, this led to many retrenchments and businesses needing to close down. In these situations, emotions run high and affected employees try to take legal action. However, unless there is a legal basis the application will not succeed. The case of Mqayi vs City to City Doors (2020) reported at the CCMA illustrates such an instance.
© Andrey Zyk – 123RF.com
The employee was not provided with work on certain days during the national lockdown declared under the Disaster Management Act 57 of 2002. He claimed that he had been unfairly suspended. The employer pointed out that during May 2020 they were only permitted to employ five workers at a time and denied that the employee had been suspended.
The Commissioner found that the employee had failed to prove that he had been suspended because the employer had been prohibited from conducting business, which amounted to a case of impossibility of performance. The employer was not liable for this. The employee had failed to prove that he was suspended within the meaning of that term in section 186(2)(b) of the LRA.
The application was dismissed.
About Jonathan Goldberg
Jonathan Goldberg, Global Business SolutionsRelated
Are local businesses ready for the new Employment Equity Regulations? 16 Apr 2025 Groundbreaking draft dismissal code to transform South Africa's workplace culture 22 Jan 2025 Rethinking retrenchments though collaboration and a combination approach 27 Dec 2024 Can employers withhold the pay of staff for working from home? 27 Nov 2024 Media24 says S189 will continue as it awaits Competition Commission ruling 15 Jul 2024 Why criminal records might not be an employment dealbreaker 22 Apr 2024
