Labour compensation in South Africa
According to the Labour Relations Act (LRA), the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) has the authority to penalize companies who engage in unfair labor practices or terminate employees inequitably. When a dispute is referred to the CCMA by the applicant, it is scheduled for conciliation and a commissioner is appointed to decide the case. In the event that conciliation is unsuccessful, arbitration will be scheduled. Within 14 days of the conclusion of the arbitration hearing, the commissioner will issue awards.
Unfair dismissal compensation in South Africa
A successful employee may get up to a year’s worth of pay from the CCMA. It will be equivalent to one month’s pay for that particular employee. Employees have the option to utilize their right to enforce awards if the compensation sum awarded to them has not been paid on or before the specified date. In accordance with section 143 of the LRA, the employee will now proceed to certify the award, and it may be enforced as if it were an order of the Labour Court for which a writ has been issued. A sheriff can now be ordered by the employee to seize the employer’s transportable property.If an employer misses the arbitration hearings without a good reason, the hearings will go through without them, and a default award will be made in their place.
What is considered for calculating the compensation
In order to receive compensation, one must first determine the type and severity of the wrong, not the actual damage incurred. The commissioner may use discretion and will always take into account:
- whatever is fair and just under the circumstances.
- Was the dismissal actually justifiable.
- Procedure-wise, was the dismissal just?
- What are the merits of each case, in addition to its particular circumstances, the parties’ interaction, and their reactions to being dismissed?
How much for Labour compensation in South Africa
The employee will be eligible for reinstatement, reemployment, or financial compensation if it is determined that the dismissal was unfair. When a worker is reinstated, it is as if they had never been fired from their position. Re-employment entails getting the job back while beginning as a new hire.
: The employee is most likely to receive compensation.
The dismissal is unfair merely because the employer did not follow a fair procedure, but there was a good reason for dismissal, because the circumstances surrounding it would make the relationship between the employee and employer intolerable, or because it is not reasonably practical for the employer to take the employee back.
As compensation for an unfair dismissal, the employee is entitled to up to 12 months of salary (procedural or substantive unfairness). A claim for unfair labor practices may only be compensated with 12 months’ worth of pay. The employee could receive up to 24 months’ worth of earnings as compensation if it was an automatic unjust dismissal.
The employer is required to use unofficial guidance for small errors. Misconduct calls for the deployment of corrective or progressive sanctions. To correct the employee and assist him or her in resolving the issue is the goal of corrective discipline. Each time a worker engages in the wrongdoing, progressive discipline may become more severe.
