Are you frustrated with your current disciplinary hearing procedure?

Do you know that:

  • labour legislation only requires simple disciplinary procedures?
  • in practice this simply means allowing employees to respond to allegations?
  • most dismissals can be handled by managers informally by discussion?
  • the concept of “natural justice” is simplified by labour legislation to speed up dismissals?
  • formal internal procedures are discouraged to prevent external duplication?
  • employees dismissed for gross misconduct forfeit their statutory right to notice pay?
  • formal hearings only occur at the CCMA or bargaining council?

  • Know how to interpret the labour legislation, court judgments and the common law relating to recruitment, managing personnel and enforcing standards of equity, behaviour and performance.
  • Understand your legal rights and responsibilities when managing all aspects of personnel relations.
  • Apply your knowledge and understanding in managing personnel to ensure an efficient, competitive and productive enterprise by enforcing fair and reasonable standards.

An expert with many 50 years of practical experience offers you knowledge, understanding and the ability to apply it via presentations, seminars, workshops, or executive briefings. We also offer an eCourse on request.

We have not yet set dates for our next public workshops.

If you’d like to attend a public workshop on this topic but we have not yet set dates (or the location or dates don’t suit you), send us an email asking us to set a date in your city. One delegate costs R4,750 ex VAT. Two or more delegates qualify for a 10% discount. We will serve lunch and refreshments. We limit delegate numbers, so bookings are done on a first come, first served basis. We aim to give practical insights that you can use to be effective. We do not give law lectures! We will refund you if you do not think you received value.

We also offer tailored private events that can be held at your premises on a day that suits you.

  • Bill of Rights in the Constitution, common law and legislation relating to the entire World of Work.
  • Relevant case judgments derived from the highest courts.
  • Overlapping labour legislation.
  • Creative and simple enterprise frameworks and reporting structures.
  • Elimination and prevention of discrimination, but allowing rational differentiation.
  • Elimination of execution gaps and introduction of risk management.
  • Employment contracts, policies and procedures.
  • Protection of confidential information.
  • Restraint of trade agreements.

We can show you a quick and simple way to investigate the facts and allow employees to respond to them. Fair and proper disciplinary procedures avoid disputes and eliminate proceedings in the CCMA or bargaining council. Attend our workshop to help you to:

  • Be smarter and reduce your workload
  • Preserve your energy with simplified procedures
  • Save time and money by preventing disputes and avoiding the CCMA and courts
  • Further your career by being up-to-date with the latest labour law developments
  • Conduct disciplinary procedures internally and without outsiders

Employment law and industrial relations have developed rapidly since the 1979 publication of the Wiehahn Report on industrial relations in South Africa.  The paradigm shift came when Parliament introduced the concept of ‘fairness’ through legislation and created labour courts with exclusive jurisdiction.

Under this dispensation, individual and collective disputes have to be resolved, including those relating to ‘rights’ and ‘interests’.  Senior management still has the right to terminate employment but it must be done fairly, procedurally and substantively. Senior management has a protected right to lock employees out to force them to accept their demands.

Given this challenging environment the CCMA, bargaining councils, labour court, the labour appeal court and the constitutional court have dealt with many novel issues affecting senior management in the workplace.  But the good news is that in most respects the framework created by legislation and the judgments of the courts have benefitted managers and employers.  They now know where they stand and what needs to be done to ensure an efficient and competitive enterprise.  So our purpose is to ensure that managers have a clear and proper understanding of their rights and responsibilities.  They will also have the confidence to enforce reasonable and sensible standards.  There is no point in wasting money on fighting cases in the CCMA, or heaven forbid the labour courts.

We will provide attendees with:

In short, everything you need to handle more effective disciplinary procedures.

  • Personnel and human resource managers to empower you to manage staff relations in the best interests of stakeholders.
  • Employers (both public and private) to ensure you appreciate your rights and responsibilities.
  • CCMA commissioners to understand the important role of managers.
  • Students to know about future job opportunities. We offer a 10% discount to students.

Please note that the content of this particular workshop has not been created for attorneys and is not suitable for them. We may offer sessions specifically for attorneys at a later time.

  • We have significant practical experience dealing with these specific areas.
  • Our sessions are interactive – you are able to ask questions, have your specific issues dealt with, and influence what gets discussed.
  • Our sessions are tailored to the attendees – we ask you questions in advance so that we know what your issues are and your existing level of knowledge.
  • You are able to network with other people at the event.
  • We do not give sales pitches, which is unfortunately so often what speakers do at conferences.
  • We provide insight and simplify the issues, which can only be done after practically applying POPI to real business issues.
  • We empower you and do not try to entrench ourselves in your organisation.
  • The topic gets covered more comprehensively when one person leads the discussion for a day, rather than many different people covering the same ground. It is not different people covering the same issues superficially in different ways.
  • We cover the same ground in one day, rather than two. This saves you time and money. We tell you what you need to know, not everything.

Graham Giles is a consulting attorney and notary at Michalsons. He is the best person to present the courses and is one of the most experienced and knowledgeable labour lawyers in South Africa.  His aim is to prevent disputes from arising in the workplace. He can help you enormously by sharing his experience and knowledge. He is an experienced and interesting speaker who has specialised in labour law and industrial relations since 1981.  Before that he practised as an attorney in Johannesburg for 10 years and then as an advocate in KwaZulu-Natal for five years.

We provide this course in different formats. Public and private sessions can last for anything from 45 minutes, half a day or a full day. We also provide eCourses that can be done via the Internet at your convenience. We welcome enquires for more information and details.

Our public events are at various venues around the world. We choose venues that are central and easy to get to, that have adequate parking, good food, and that ensure you are comfortable. We are also happy to give the Disciplinary Hearing workshop or executive briefing at your venue.

Feedback from the delegates about the workshop

Had a great session – very interesting scenarios and ideas. The content was valuable.