Author: Nolene Pettitt

Unlawful Collective Action: A Costly Mistake Employees Cannot Afford to Make In South Africa, many employees still believe that if they are unhappy about something at work, they can simply band together, refuse to work, and force the employer to give in. I see this mistake over and over again — and it is one of the quickest ways for a group of employees to lose...

Why a Refusal to Sign a Warning or Hearing Notice Doesn’t Invalidate It One of the most common misconceptions in the workplace is that a disciplinary warning or notice to attend a hearing is invalid if the employee refuses to sign it.This belief persists across industries, but it’s simply not true — and it can cause unnecessary confusion or hesitation when employers try to take legitimate...

Poor Performance vs Misconduct: Employers, Know the Difference When employees don’t meet expectations, employers often jump straight to warnings or dismissal — but the law requires the right process for the right problem. There is a critical legal distinction every employer must understand: ✅ Poor Work Performance = Incapacity The employee cannot meet the required standard, despite trying.This is not their fault — they may lack skill, knowledge, experience,...

What the Constitutional Court’s New Ruling Means for Employers On 3 October 2025, the Constitutional Court handed down a landmark judgment in Van Wyk and Others v Minister of Employment and Labour [2025] ZACC 20, reshaping South Africa’s approach to parental leave. The Court found that the previous distinction between maternity, paternity, adoption, and commissioning parental leave unfairly discriminated between parents. The outcome is a significant shift...

The landscape of South African labour law has shifted once again, and the recent updates to the Code of Good Practice: Dismissal have raised the stakes for every employer. Gone are the days when employers had room to “make a plan” or rely on informal processes. The Code now provides detailed, prescriptive requirements for each type of dismissal, making it clear that every step must be...

Can Sending a Mass “Rapture Email” at Work Lead to Disciplinary Action? A Labour Law Perspective Recently, the news cycle in South Africa carried a surprising story: actress-turned-professional Mahlatse Letoka reportedly sent a mass internal email to colleagues at KPMG warning them of the impending “Rapture” and urging them to download her PDF on the subject. The firm acted swiftly, confirmed the email was unauthorized, and...

When Commissioners Get It Wrong: Nedbank Limited v Olwage and Others (JR 1525/22) [2025] ZALCJHB 422 In a recent Labour Court judgment (12 September 2025), Nedbank successfully reviewed and set aside an arbitration award where the arbitrator had misunderstood the law on sexual harassment. The arbitrator focused on whether the conduct was “sexually motivated” instead of applying the correct legal test: was the conduct unwelcome, of a...