Movement or progress?
- Published on 15 Mar 2013
- Johan Botes and Mark Meyerowitz
Review of CCMA Arbitration Awards
As we’ve reported over the past few months, the Labour Relations Amendment Bill proposes several changes to the current Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 (LRA).
Among other aims, the bill proposes the review of CCMA arbitration awards granted be streamlined and discourages litigants from instituting review applications as a tactical ploy to frustrate or delay the award.
A new time limit to prosecute review applications is proposed:
- The amended section 145(5) of the LRA provides that a person who institutes a review application must arrange for the matter to be heard by the Labour Court within six months of the proceedings beginning at the CCMA. However, if these provisions are not complied with, and there is good cause for why these provisions were not complied with, the Labour Court can excuse this.
- In terms of the new section 145(6), judges must hand down judgment in review applications “as soon as reasonably possible”. This provision reiterates that review applications need to be speedily resolved.
One of the original aims of the current LRA was the speedy resolution of labour disputes. Sixteen years after this act was promulgated, this aim has sadly not been realised. While there are numerous reasons for the delays in finalising labour disputes, any positive steps to reduce litigation time are welcome.
If review applications are finalised quickly, litigants will have to keep to the timelines provided for pleadings. We expect that, given the renewed imperative to quickly dispose of matters, the Labour Court will be less inclined to accept individuals not complying with these timelines. This should especially assist employers who find themselves at the mercy of ex-employees who don’t timeously review arbitration awards handed down against them.
Employers: Manage your own review applications!
Take all necessary steps to move the matter forward to avoid being penalised for a delay in the proceedings. If you institute review proceedings, and then unnecessarily delay the matter, you’ll face an increased risk of having the review application dismissed.
No need to interdict
As things currently stand, instituting a review application does not automatically suspend an arbitration award. An employee who has obtained relief under an arbitration award is entitled to enforce that award unless you, the employer, bring an urgent application in the Labour Court to suspend the award pending the outcome of the review application:
- The new sections 145(7) and (8) dispense with the need to approach the Labour Court to suspend the execution of an arbitration award. The effect of these sub sections is that an arbitration award will automatically be suspended once an application to review the award is started. However, the award can only be suspended if the individual applying to have this award suspended furnishes security to the satisfaction of the court.
- Unless the court directs otherwise, the security mentioned in the point above must be:
(1) Equal to 24 months’ remuneration if the award grants reinstatement or re-employment; and
(2) Equal to the amount of compensation granted in the award.
Change for the better?
These provisions are intended to discourage CCMA litigants from using review proceedings merely as a delay tactic. Furthermore, a litigant would have to be fairly confident about his prospects of success he is willing to put up as much as 24 months’ security. Our opinion is that any changes that will result in disputes being resolved in a quicker manner are welcome.
