Very few workplace issues elicit as firmly held views or fears as the topic of constructive dismissal. Whether it is a manager, fearful of doing something wrong and at risk of an employee lodging the dreadful claim of constructive dismissal, or Harvey Spectre wannabes cascading their views on the legal impact of such a claim: say "constructive dismissal" and you have everyone's attention...
Johan Botes 1 day ago
Putting the brakes on business travel and physical offices due to tech transformation...
Johan Botes 11 Jan 2021
Whenever an employee's services are terminated, or an annual leave cycle ends, there will be at least two people arguing about whether the employee's old, untaken annual leave could be accumulated and paid out...
Johan Botes 10 Dec 2020
Employers use limited duration contracts (LDCs) to create certainty and limit legal risk in respect of staffing solutions. Appointing an employee for a fixed period or defined project allows an employer to plan for the employee's exit in advance. But what happens when the work is not completed by the end date...?
Johan Botes 30 Sep 2020
Women are unable to escape disparate treatment in the workplace, with even the current global pandemic causing greater upheaval for them compared to their male counterparts...
Johan Botes 25 Aug 2020
The issue of when an employer should explore alternatives to retrenchment has never been more relevant than now, as businesses begin to respond to the impacts of Covid-19 on their operations...
Johan Botes 15 Jun 2020
Johan Botes, partner and head of the Employment & Compensation Practice at Baker McKenzie Johannesburg, addresses a series of questions many South African employees and employers are asking amid the the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak...
Johan Botes 19 Mar 2020
On 11 December 2019, the Minister of Labour in South Africa issued a notice calling for interested parties to make submissions on his proposal to deem persons in the film and television industry as employees for the purpose of selected portions of South Africa's employment law...
Johan Botes 24 Jan 2020
Employers can play a critical role in stigmatising violence against women and ensuring that perpetrators are ostracised from civilised society. No employer should have any doubt about its ability to dismiss any employee who assaults a female colleague, client or supplier...
Johan Botes 10 Sep 2019
The evolution of the flexible age means that the business world is desperate to eliminate friction, seeking to remove any obstacles that stand in the way of maximising customer satisfaction, attracting the best talent and improving operational efficiency. This desire for a frictionless environment, however, has given rise to new challenges...
Johan Botes 30 Apr 2019
In this age of overflowing inboxes, diaries filled with meetings sandwiched between conference calls and yet another round of performance assessments, managing time and focus requires Herculean effort...
Johan Botes 7 Jan 2019
Protection of employment during business transfers is an integral piece in the employment law legal puzzle in many jurisdictions around the world...
Johan Botes 21 Nov 2018
Do employees automatically transfer from an old service provider to a new service provider when the client replaces the one with the other...?
Johan Botes 4 Oct 2018
Is an employer bound by its own changes to its leave policy? What happens when the employer disputes whether the changes were ever implemented, and there is no witness to gainsay claims of what happened...
Johan Botes 17 Sep 2018
With Jacob Zuma finally resigning from the presidency following pressure from the ANC NEC, the question arises on his possible legal remedies should he feel aggrieved at being compelled to vacate his office and official residence...
Johan Botes 15 Feb 2018
As we launch into 2018, here are a handful of trends we'll be seeing in the workplace this coming year...
Johan Botes 8 Jan 2018
"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone," it means just what I chose it to mean - neither more, neither less." ...
Johan Botes 3 Jan 2018
A curious statutory effect of collective agreements is that a collective bargaining agreement amends the contracts of employment of individual employees...
Johan Botes 15 Aug 2017
South Africa's ranking on apparent labour market inflexibility (129th out of 138 countries according to the World Economic Forum Competitiveness rankings 2016/2017) suggests that businesses perceive South Africa to be a rigid operating environment...
Johan Botes 28 Apr 2017
Employers meddling in the private affairs of their employees have been the topic of many a discussion in the past. However, it appears that some employers take their right to interfere in the private conduct of employees a step too far...
Johan Botes 6 Mar 2017
