The dawn of democracy failed to bring legitimacy to the Police Service. Public and political debate seriously lambasted the Police Service for criminal offences committed on and off duty by police officials which pertained to the infringement on the individual rights regarding personal safety and the right to own property. The outcry against criminal offences by police officials forced the Police Service to deal decisively with criminality in the Police Service by means of fitness boards. While the government and public approved of the attempts to rid the Police Service of criminality it was met with union resistance in the Eastern Cape and defeat in the Labour Court. Different legislation, internal arrangements and case law were observed in this study. The purpose was to determine the strength or weaknesses if any of the applicable legislation and internal arrangements which contributed to a finding against the Police Service in the Labour Court.

In a globally competitive market place companies strive to become as efficient as possible. Absenteeism is a worldwide problem as it impacts on company efficiency and cost effectiveness. A large portion of absenteeism can be attributed to ill health absences. Companies have prioritized the need to find ways of managing and reducing absenteeism. In South Africa such processes have to occur within the confines of a constitutional right to fair labour practices and other prescriptive labour legislation. The issue is somewhat complicated by the fact that employees have a right to paid time off due to illness. It is thus clear that not all ill health absenteeism can be deemed problematic. A balancing act needs to occur between the operational needs of the employer and the rights of employees. Ill health absenteeism becomes problematic once a threshold is reached at which point it becomes intolerable for the employer, thus deemed excessive. Excessive ill health absenteeism is not a difficult concept to understand, however it is not specifically defined. A universal concept of when absence is deemed to have reached the threshold of excessiveness does not exist and varies from one employer to the next. Excessive ill health absence is a multi-facetted concept (as a result of the various types of ill health absence) and thus a universal process cannot be adopted to deal with all types of excessive ill health absenteeism. In an attempt to deal with the different types of ill health absenteeism it is pertinent to categorize the issues. The author suggests various ways of dealing with ill health absenteeism, depending on the facts of each case. A misconduct process should only be applicable in instances where it can be proved that sick leave is used inappropriately or the reason for absence is unknown. Although case law suggests the prevalence of dealing with ill health absence as misconduct, especially in the case of persistent short term absence, these cases rarely prove that abuse is taking place. Suspicions regarding abuse without proper evidence to support such claims will not satisfy the substantive fairness requirements. In the event that illness is of a medium to long term nature, an ill health incapacity process may be the most appropriate process to apply, as in such instances a clearly distinguishable illness exists, which makes accommodation less problematic. Such a process is less suited to persistent short term absence as this can be the result of many illnesses or injuries. In the case of persistent short term absence, the individual may be fully capable of performing their duties upon returning to work, however their frequent absence causes unreliability and inefficiency. It is clear in this instance that accommodation cannot take place due to the unpredictable nature of the absences. The concern with persistent short term absence is less with the illness or illnesses displayed and more with the absences itself. The author suggests that it may be appropriate to deal with such absences on the basis of incapacity due to poor work performance. This assertion is based on the fact that the concern is with frequent short term absence that causes the employee to be unreliable; however the illnesses are not of such a nature that it can warrant accommodation. If it is accepted that the employee is not malingering or if the malingering cannot be proved the employee has failed to meet a performance standard (attendance standard). It is suggested that as part of any incapacity investigation consideration should be given to whether the illness or injury can be deemed a disability. This is necessary as disabled individuals are afforded special protection and treatment. A dismissal of an incapacitated individual that is actually deemed “disabled” could be held to be automatically unfair and therefore it is pertinent that this is established at the outset.

No abstract available. / Thesis (LL.M.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

A Dissertation submitted to the Psychology Department, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfillment of the course of the Degree of Bachelor of Arts with Masters in Industrial Psychology. / The aim of this research was to, firstly, explore the relationship between psychological contract breach and organisational commitment, and to examine the extent to which trust mediates this relationship. Secondly, the research aimed to develop and validate a scale to measure psychological contract breach. Data was collected from a large organisation that had completed nation-wide retrenchments. The quantitative sample population consisted of 84 employees in the organisation, while 10 members of the organisation were interviewed to obtain qualitative information. A cross-sectional design was used and data was collected by means of questionnaires and interviews. The process of triangulation was used to provide a deeper understanding of the relationship being assessed. The psychological contract breach scale was analysed by means of a factor analysis and was found to be valid, and the reliability was found to be satisfactory. The results of the study showed that there is a negative relationship between psychological contract breach and organisational commitment and that trust does not appear to mediate this relationship. Explanations for the findings are offered, and the theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed. Finally, limitations of this study and directions for future research are presented. / Andrew Chakane 2018

Thesis (LLM. (Labour Laws)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / This dissertation presents a legal analysis of the effectiveness of arbitration process in unfair dismissal dispute with a particular emphasis on South Africa. The use of arbitration process in resolving unfair dismissal dispute is influenced by its efficiency, accessibility and flexibility. In South Africa, arbitration process is employed by the CCMA that was established to encourage effective labour dispute. A central problem that the CCMA encounter which affects its effectiveness is the high number of unfair dismissal disputes referred for arbitration process. According to the legal research offered in this dissertation, the number of unjust dismissal disputes brought to arbitration process continue to rise every year. As a result, the CCMA is swamped by these referrals, which affects its effectiveness. According to the findings, the arbitration process is now widely used around the world to resolve unfair dismissal disputes. The extent to which the arbitration process is adopted to resolve unfair dismissal dispute varies from country to country and is guided by legislation. As a result, it has been discovered that the CCMA may benefit from the ACAS’s arbitration process strengths from the United Kingdom as well as Namibia’s arbitration process strengths. The United Kingdom results show that ACAS is able to resolve a higher proportion of unfair dismissal dispute through conciliation rather than arbitration, which reduces the number of referrals from the arbitration process. In Namibia, if parties to unfair dismissal dispute want to refer an unfair dismissal dispute for arbitration process it must be done by mutual agreement between the parties except in exceptional circumstances. All this mode of operation between United Kingdom and Namibia when resolving unfair dismissal disputes hinder high referral rate from the arbitration process. This dissertation concludes with recommendations arising from policy making that promotes the effectiveness of the arbitration process and limiting the abuse of the process.

No abstract available / Jurisprudence / LL.M.

Thesis (LLM. (Labour Law)) -- University of Limpopo, 2012

Thesis (MA(Industrial Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / Increased globalisation and competition have implications for organisational renewal and change and increasingly cost cutting, by retrenching employees, is part of the search for competitive advantage and sustainability. Within the South African context, retrenchments are no exception. The study explored the experiences of those who are tasked with the role of implementing the retrenchment, the so-called retrenchment implementers. Despite implementers being key to ensuring organisational success and profitability in the aftermath of retrenchment, research on their experiences is limited not only internationally, but also locally. The study was conducted amongst participants employed at various South African organisations. Qualitative data was obtained via semi-structured interviews with the implementers of retrenchments. Following content analysis, three key themes emerged: implementers’ experiences of procedural aspects as per s189 and s189A of the Labour Relations Act 66, of 1995 (as amended); implementers’ personal experiences of performing the retrenchment act and organisational and personal enabling strategies to assist with preparing implementers for the retrenchment task. Results indicate mixed responses in terms of complying with the relevant legislation. Insofar as their personal experiences are concerned, results indicate that while some implementers had found ways to adjust to their managerial function of implementing retrenchments, others experienced discomfort with their role, suffering from amongst others guilt and feelings of responsibility, role conflict, role overload, decreased emotional well being, a sense of isolation, negative self-perceptions and feelings of job insecurity. In the majority of cases, implementers experienced limited organisational emotional support and assistance in dealing with their emotions during the retrenchment conversation. These results support the limited non-South African literature. The results from the present study also added insight into the ways in which implementers are personally prepared for their role as well as ways in which organisations can assist them emotionally for their task.

No abstract available / Jurisprudence / LL.M.

Thesis (LLM. (Labour Laws)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / This study discusses a legal analysis of incompatibility as a ground for dismissal in the South African labour law. Incompatibility refers to the inability of an employee to maintain a harmonious relationship with his or her employer, or unable to adapt to the corporate culture of the workplace. The corporate culture is associated with the values, beliefs and behaviour to determine how employees interact with each other in the workplace. Therefore, in cases where the employer contemplates dismissing an employee on the ground of incompatibility, procedural fairness and substantive fairness should be implemented in order for the employer/s to make informed decision and ensure that the dismissal of such an employee is effected in accordance with the procedural and substantive fairness couched in the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 („the LRA‟). Section 23 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 provides broadly the right of everyone to fair labour practices. Consequently, the LRA was established to give effect to this constitutional provision. In terms of section 185 of the LRA everyone has the right not to be unfairly dismissed. Be that as it may, incompatibility is not clearly defined in section 188 of the LRA. In fact, there are no guidelines nor corrective measures implemented in the workplace to deal with incompatibility. Hence incompatibility is dealt with under dismissal based on incapacity. In most cases employers use their discretion in dismissing employees, thereby using improper procedure to end disharmony in the workplace. In summation, the central thesis of this study focuses on a legal analysis of incompatibility as a ground for dismissal in the South African labour law.