Senwes Scenario Augustus / September 2017 | Page 60

••••
Nie seker watter
Efekto produk om
te gebruik nie?
DESKUNDIGE
TUINADVIES
EN WENKE
STUUR
‘N FOTO,
IDENTIFISEER
‘N TUINPES
VOLLEDIGE
PRODUK-
KATALOGUS
T RA D E N E W S
The small business owner
& labour disputes
S
teps small businesses should take in the event
of a dispute are dependent on the nature of the
dispute and the forum to which it has been referred.
In almost every dispute, the first step is for the
employee to lodge a dispute with the CCMA or bar-
gaining council with jurisdiction over the employer.
Once the employer is aware of the dispute and
receives a copy the next step is for the CCMA/bar-
gaining council to convene a meeting of parties in
the form of conciliation or conciliation/arbitration.
The employer must attend, if not the CCMA/bar-
gaining council could proceed in its absence.
The purpose of conciliation is to establish if the
employer and employee can resolve the dispute ami-
cably and by agreement. If not, the CCMA will issue
a certificate of non-resolution (where the parties
are only conciliating the dispute) or will proceed to
arbitrate the dispute (where the meeting convened
is a conciliation/arbitration and where no objections
have been lodged).
THE HIGH COST OF INEXPERT ADVICE
In case of unfair dismissal, the CCMA/bargaining
council and Labour Court have authority to rein­state
an employee alternatively to award that employee
compensation up to a maximum of 12 or 24 months
remuneration, depending on circumstances.
WE RECOMMEND THAT THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION BE
OBTAINED: Given the financially consequences which
may arise for SMEs where employees have been dis-
missed, SMEs are advised to get expert employment
legislation advice if they lack experience to deal with
such issues.
Laai die GRATIS Efekto
app af om uit te vind .
Beskikbaar op:
HELPFUL LINKS:
The National Employers’ Association of South
Africa’s (NEASA) website contains a list of resources
to assisting employers (www.neasa.co.za).
The law in terms of labour policies and procedures
(www.ccma.org.za/).
Employers must familiarise themselves with South
African labour laws, act promptly in a dispute and
be active during conciliation process. This allows
the small businesses to focus on the success of their
business rather than on long and costly employment
disputes.
58
AUG/SEP 2017 • SENWES Scenario