‘Articles’ Archives
Threatening »
Question: I would like to find out about my husband’s rights. He works for a smallish company is Cape Town, which has branches in Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth. He has been there for a year and 3 months now. At the moment, his pay is R4500 a month. Recently, he found out a co-worker who started after him, makes R5500 a month (they have [...]
Maids Retrenchment »
Question: I have a part time maid who currently works 2 days a week. She has been with me 8/9 years. Recently her attitude and demeanour has changed. She sulks. I wish to get rid of her. Can I or do I have to pay her out a retrenchment deal. I have no contract with her. (more...)
Unpaid Maternity Leave »
Question: I went on unpaid maternity leave from 01/05/2009 - 30/09/2009. The company I work for gave increases on 01/07/2009. everyone got an increase (I am the payroll administrator so i know) but I did not get one. I am back at work now for 4 months and still did not get anything. I have spoken to my employer and was told it would get sorted [...]
Alternative Employment »
Question: I am currently looking for other work but work the following hours 07:30am to 16:00 at my current company. I want to go for interviews but this is clashing with my work hours as I can't go in my lunch because it is just 30minutes long. I work in Boksburg and am looking at work in Pretoria so it takes me at least 1 hour to get there [...]
Increase in Working Hours and Duties »
Question: My employer is increasing my working hours and duties. They are not increasing the working hours or duties of any other employee only mine. Can i insist on an increase and if they refuse an increase can i refuse working more hours and taking on more duties. My duties are not stated in my contract it was agreed upon verbally. I have [...]
Restraints are Difficult to Enforce »
Question: I was with a company that had a contract with Vodacom. The company lost the contract (end September) and had to retrench approx. 150 employees due to the Lost contract (approx. 85% of total headcount). I was employed in the "back office" for this account, which also went through a process of retrenchment, but the company decided [...]
New Terms of Employment »
Question: If my employer brings new terms to the table with regards to salary, commission, work time, reporting etc. Does this constitute a new contract and therefore the previous document becomes null and void? In other words, if any changes to conditions are made does a new contract have to be drawn up or if I sign an A4 with the changes on [...]
Hairdressing Restraint of Trade »
Question: Is there a legal limit (for both time and distance) for restraint of trade in the hairdressing industry? (more...)
My Boss Asked Me To Resign »
Question: My boss has asked me to resign. The only reason he gave me was that I am in the wrong work environment as I am an entrepreneur. I am currently holding the position of office manager for a boutique investment company. When I told him that I did not want to resign as I love my job, working for him and the other two directors and that I [...]
Company Medical Assist »
Question: If my contract states that I work 45 hours in the week, stating 40 hours from Monday to Friday and on Saturdays 5 hours, why when I take unpaid leave for a Saturday is a full day salary deducted? Not sure if this question is in your frame of work but we had an incident where one of our black employees had a stroke and we had to [...]
Summarily Dismissed »
Question: I was summarily dismissed from my company after an accident with a company vehicle. I offered to pay for the damages on a monthly basis but was told that the company no longer had accident insurance on their vehicles and could not afford to fix the bakkie. What are my rights concerning severance pay, company debts etc? Is it true [...]
Freelance Recruitment Agency – Affiliations »
Question: I have my own freelance recruitment agency in South Africa. I would like to know the legal requirements, should I want to open another branch in a different country. I will be making use of freelance recruiters in the specific country. Do I need to be part of any affiliations? Answer: You would have to adhere to that [...]
Dishonesty and Misrepresentation »
Question: I am a sales rep in media advertising. I have a client who places adverts on a weekly basis. He called in to reduce the frequency of Ads placed. In order to retain the same amount of sales and change his mind, I verbally quoted him a rate 50% higher than normal, just so that he will see the downside of changing frequency. I [...]
Company Closed Down – Breach of Terms »
Question: The construction company my wife worked for closed down. The employment contract states that they will pay out 4 (four) weeks severance pay for every year. She was employed for just over a year, so it boils down to about R7000. Is there an easy and cheap way to get the money out of them? Cause it certainly ain't worth it if we [...]
Restraint of Trade – Senior Staff »
Question: Is a restraint of trade applicable to all staff, or only senior staff? Can you be fired for not signing a restraint of trade? (more...)