In a recent judgment delivered by the High Court in Pretoria during April 2021, rights were afforded to parents to bury or cremate a foetus that is younger than 26 weeks old. Prior to this case, no burial rights were afforded to foetus’s younger than 26 weeks. In this case, the court ruled that amendments needed to be made to the Birth and Deaths Registration Act to allow for such burials. Although the Constitutional Court still needs to endorse the ruling, the ruling has been widely welcomed by the general public.

Most employers will be familiar with or at least aware of dishonesty and it’s more typical appearances in the workplace, among others, theft, fraud, time abuses and bogus medical certificates, falsifying qualifications, or an employee’s lies to cover up errors or incomplete work. What happens if an employee were to mislead an employer during a company investigation or misstate facts during proceedings against the employer? How does this impact upon the employment relationship?

Domestic violence is perpetrated between men and women on a daily basis, however, an average of 7 South African women are murdered by a partner or immediate family member daily.

The mere fact that an employee fails a polygraph test is not in itself sufficient to find an employee guilty of dishonesty.

Here are two important recent developments in the South African employment law landscape effective from 1 March 2021 that you should know about.

Restraint of trade agreements are, with exception, valid and enforceable in South African law and have risen to considerable prominence, particularly in employment contracts. For ex-employees seeking to avoid their restraint clauses, there rests an onus on them to prove that enforcement would be unreasonable, and therefore contrary to the public interest. This frequent contest in our Courts has culminated in a generous body of case law and ever evolving legal arguments.

The Constitutional Court in Beadica 231 CC and Others v Trustees for the time being of the Oregon Trust and Others, recently had occasion to consider whether a renewal clause in a lease agreement was against public policy because of the fact that enforcement of a specific term would result in substantive inequality, in terms of section 9(2) of the Constitution.

Once a couple is engaged, they start the wedding planning – which is quite a task. But as part of this planning how much effort does the couple allocate to considering and planning for the legal consequences of their marriage, and the affect that the marriage will have on financial planning and position later in life?

At the outset and before delving into the matter at hand, contracting parties are reminded that the principle of pacta sunt servanda (agreements must be kept) applies unless the contract offends public policy.

“Irregular”, “wilful misconduct” and “recklessness” were just some of the recurring terms used in the judgment handed down by Honourable Judge Ronel Tolmay of the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria recently (27 May 2020) following an application launched against the former non-executive chairperson of South African Airways (“SAA”), Dudu Myeni.

Aside from a meticulously thought out seating plan for guests, couples are faced with many decisions leading up to their wedding day, one of these being the daunting and sobering task of deciding whether to enter into an antenuptial contract (“ANC”).

Project-based recruiting is relatively common in South Africa and so are the related employment contracts catered to the needs of the employer’s client. Service providing employers place employees with clients in terms of fixed-term eventuality contracts. These contracts typically make provision for the contract to terminate upon termination of contract between the employer and the client, it being that the client no longer requires the services rendered by the employer.

Imagine being trapped in your own home with your abuser. With no escape, and the only way out being a permit allowing you to do so. Terrifying thought, isn’t it? The thing is, for most women in South Africa, this has been their reality since the presidency imposed a nation-wide lockdown in a bid to stop the rapid spread of coronavirus, known as COVID-19.

Whilst the world and indeed South Africa continues to monitor the ongoing Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and it’s far reaching consequences, HJW Attorneys have taken the time to present some insight into a number of workplace issues, which can now be considered to be relatively commonplace.

People are often afraid of going to lawyers. The sad reality is that the profession often has negative connotations, and sometimes for good reason. I’ve personally inherited clients that have been through the wash with other lawyers; being charged astronomical rates for very little value in return, being provided with terrible advice, poor service and left with nothing other than a hefty bill to attend to.

The world may be forever changed with the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic; likewise, it is not unreasonable to suggest that our working lives may never be the same again. More locally, this is especially so taking into consideration the resultant widespread remote working arrangements put into place by employers in response to the nationwide lockdown.

Whilst many people may be aware of employers’ obligations and the precautions that they need to take in the workplace in respect of the recent Coronavirus outbreak – most employees are still unclear as to what their rights are, specifically in respect of leave.

Employers bear the onus, in terms of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 (“the Act”), to provide and maintain a safe and healthy working environment for employees.

As we are all aware by now, it appears that the man who works for Eskom that switches our power on and off has returned from leave, with loadshedding having been reimplemented as of the first week of January 2020.

Employers often seek advice on whether they may consider an employee’s written warnings that have already expired, when imposing a disciplinary sanction of dismissal.