Knowing the law could make or break employee relations in your company
When I compare our clients who have poor employee relations with those who have sound employee relations, it is clear that, for the most part, what makes the difference is the quality and breadth of legal knowledge the employer’s line management, external consultants and industrial relations (IR) have.
A case in point is SALSTAFF obo Bezuidenhout vs Metrorail (2001 BALR 926).
- Here, the arbitrator found that the employee had been forced to resign because of disciplinary charges brought against him.
- The employer dismissed the employee before his notice period was up but the arbitrator found that there was no good reason to have dismissed him.
- This convinced the arbitrator that the employee had been justified in resigning to avoid an unfair disciplinary hearing.
- The dismissal was found to be unfair.
This type of victimisation would not have occurred in a company where management fully understood the principles of fairness, labour legislation and the basics of constructive IR.
Everyone can challenge management decisions
Today, HR professionals need to realise that it is not only shop floor employees who belong to unions who challenge management decisions:
1. The main reason for this is that the Labour Relations Act (LRA) makes statutory dispute resolution procedures far more accessible to employees, whether they are unionised or not, than ever before.
2. In addition, the nature of the world of work is changing radically – very quickly. Fewer employees are required on the shop floor in this new technology age while more highly skilled employees are found in office buildings operating computers.
You could be taken to the CCMA at any moment!
Employees at all levels are receiving relief from the CCMA. This is largely because employees across all spectrums are aware that, for little or no cost, they can bring a case against their employer if he has treated them unfairly. Unfortunately, the CCMA does not have a mechanism to screen out many of those nonsense cases which should never have been referred to the body.
I don’t recommend that every single employment problem is referred to the CCMA
On the contrary, the CCMA should be allowed - by employers, unions and employees - to deal only with the genuine and more serious labour disputes so that it may put its overburdened resources to the best use possible.
If your financial manager or sales manager is properly trained in labour law and industrial relations, you won’t land up at the CCMA every few weeks because the switchboard operator was offended by an impatient remark. The CCMA will then be used in the way it should be, that is, only as a last resort.
7 Legal skills you must train your line managers in
1. The background to the implementation of the LRA.
2. The purpose and scope of the LRA.
3. The huge scale of the changes in labour law and the significance of these changes for your company/organisation in general.
4. The significance of these changes for the specific manager’s area of responsibility and for the effectiveness of the manager/supervisor.
5. How managers/supervisors can detect and correct employees’ misconceptions about the provisions of labour law concerning employee rights and employer responsibilities.
6. The changes in your company/organisational policy, procedures and practices necessitated by the new employment equity laws. For example, the employer’s policies and practices with regard to recruitment and selection, discipline, grievance handling, promotion, training and cut backs will have to be radically altered, and managers and supervisors must understand these changes to have a chance of implementing them effectively.
7. How to go about implementing all the necessary changes in such a way that stable industrial relations are maintained with all employee categories and in such a way that they do not involve the employer in unnecessary legal costs.
As mentioned earlier, employees are receiving ongoing input about the LRA, other labour laws and how they can exploit these laws. They get this input from union meetings, rumour, union training programmes, political rallies and reading matter. Some of this information may be incorrect but employees are nevertheless being emboldened through this knowledge acquisition. Managers who do not likewise keep up with the necessary IR knowledge and skills could be seriously jeopardising your organisation’s future.
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Ivan Israelstam is the Chief Executive Officer of Labour Law Management Consulting. He is known as a leading practitioner in labour law and pragmatic labour relations management with many years experience in corporate human resources management. He has an honours degree from The University of the Witwatersrand and an IPM diploma in Personnel Management and in Training. Contact Ivan: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . |
