Fixed-term contract staff protected by LRA

Labour lawyer, Tony Healy says that it is not uncommon for fixed-term employment contracts to be used by many employers in South Africa as these contracts provide a degree of labour flexibility and cater for periods of absenteeism by permanent staff for reasons that could include maternity leave.

He says the important thing for fixed-term contract workers to prove in the event of a dispute with an employer is that the employee had a reasonable expectation that the contract would be renewed.

Referring to a recent CCMA arbitration award, Healy says that the commission found that if the employee had a reasonable expectation that the contract would be renewed then the onus to prove the existence of another reason for termination lies with the employer.

The commission referred to a Labour Court ruling that found the employee must prove that there was an expectation that the contract would be renewed and that that expectation was reasonable and objective rather than subjective.

Healy says that employers and employees will continue to engage in disputes over a temporary worker's "reasonable expectations" of an existing contract being renewed the fact is that employees do have some protection under the LRA and employers should consider this before simply cancelling a contract.