Legal

Many employees reaching “retirement age” (often set at 60 or 65) are not ready to retire. Perhaps they need to carry on earning an income, often they are fit and healthy and want to remain engaged and productive. Increasingly, both factors are at play. Regardless, the concepts of an aging workforce and “65 is the new 50” are here to stay, and employers and employees alike need to tackle the changing realities that come with them. Agree a retirement date upfront! Firstly, do not as an employer make the mistake of not specifying an agreed retirement age in your contracts…

Employee looting and/or violence can take place during strike action or it can occur during non-workplace incidents such as the recent looting and public disorder sprees. In both cases employers need to take action, but with care. Addressing firstly the “strike” scenario, employees have strongly entrenched rights when it comes to taking industrial action. But strikers who indulge in, or associate themselves with, any form of violence or intimidation can expect little sympathy from our courts. Two Labour Appeal Court decisions illustrate – Dismissed for associating with a crowd assault “Within a labour law context the requisite intention exists where…

The recent widespread public unrest, destruction of property and looting caused massive loss and damage in two provinces, and our television sets and other news media carried images of rampaging crowds looting and burning – with, for the first few days at least, very little evidence of effective police reaction. Many of those who suffered losses (or their insurers) will no doubt be wondering if they might have a claim for damages from the police and other agencies tasked with protecting us from crime. We address the issue with reference to the case of a farm vandalised during a worker’s…

We’ve all had them – noisy neighbours whose dogs bark incessantly, whose late-night parties leave everyone sleep-deprived, whose businesses make working from home and relaxing in the garden an impossibility. We’ll have a look at two aspects of this problem, starting with the option of taking your neighbours to court if a friendly approach to them bears no fruit. What must you prove to get a court order? Two very different cases, one involving a suburban puppy daycare business and the other a city centre gym, illustrate. Secondly, we share some thoughts for property buyers on preventing problems upfront by…

In these hard times of pandemic and economically destructive unrest, an unfortunate number of businesses face collapse, and many will opt for the “first aid for companies” option of business rescue. Creditors coming out of that process with a shortfall (only the luckiest creditors are likely to emerge with full settlement) will naturally look to any personal suretyships they hold to cover that shortfall. A recent Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) decision has brought welcome clarity to the question of whether – and in what circumstances – such personal suretyships will survive the business rescue process. Both directors and creditors…

Employers who don’t adequately address the problem of sexual harassment in the workplace can expect to pay the price in court. As can the perpetrators themselves. We look at the case of a woman [PE v Dr Beyers Naude Local Municipality and Another (828/2011) [2021] ZAECGHC 35] whose decade long trek through the courts has finally resulted in a damages payout of just under R4m. The employer and the perpetrator are “jointly and severally” liable for both the damages and for a no-doubt substantial legal bill. Our discussion of the judgment leads us through the factors taken into account by the…

One of a Body Corporate’s fundamental duties is to collect monthly levies from the scheme’s members, and to take robust action to recover any arrears. As with any other creditor/debtor relationship however, trying to recover debt can be an exercise in frustration and delay, and the more recalcitrant the debtor, the greater the temptation to “go straight for the jugular” by applying to sequestrate the debtor’s estate. You will have to show that the sequestration is to the advantage of creditors as a whole – not just to you – but that isn’t the only consideration. You will be throwing…