Employee relations as a strategic priority
- Exit Management, Employee Relations & Unions
- Published on 26 Jun 2012
- Mark Van Buuren
Employee Relations in South Africa focuses primarily on the collective relationships between unions and employers. These relationships are largely fractious and conflict ridden. History has a large part to play in the development of these circumstances, but things aren’t changing. In fact, conflict in this area has almost become a way of life. Whilst there is always an expected element of conflict in the employment relationship, it seems to be a predominant theme instead of one part of the arrangement.
Executives: You don’t need to act tough at the top
- Exit Management, Employee Relations & Unions
- Published on 26 Jun 2012
- Patrick Deale
Executives are praised for their successes and maligned for their failures. And because they’re the "movers and shakers" in our midst, their activities and behaviours are relentlessly scrutinised, analysed and judged by any number of observers both inside and outside the organisation.
Can you fire someone for being a square peg in a round hole?
- Exit Management, Employee Relations & Unions
- Published on 26 Jun 2012
- Helen Wilsenach
The challenge
South African employment law currently only recognises four reasons for dismissal: misconduct, incapacity for poor performance, incapacity for ill health/injury, and the employer’s operational requirements. Accordingly, when faced with an employee who is good at his/her job but who is a poor fit with the organisation’s corporate culture, employers are sometimes left feeling like they are standing on legal quicksand.
Fantastic on paper but a flop in the boardroom
- Exit Management, Employee Relations & Unions
- Published on 26 Jun 2012
- Helen Wilsenach
The challenge
Many organisations pay top dollar for a senior employee, in the belief that he or she will take it to the next level, only to discover that the executive has oversold their wares. Getting rid of the executive can be a costly and protracted exercise. Currently, the Labour Relations Act, 1995 ("LRA") makes no distinction between senior and junior employees and, as a general rule, to safely dismiss for poor performance, an employer must first follow a formal performance-counselling process. This process can take months to finalise.
