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South Africa: reliance on trade marks in company name objections
By Janine Hollesen and Donvay Wegierski, Directors A further reason to register trade marks is that they can be relied upon in company name objections. The [...]
Dismissing an employee for refusing to obey instructions
By Jacques van Wyk, Director and Yusha Davidson, Candidate Attorney ISSUE Can you dismiss an employee who refuses to obey instructions? SUMMARY An employee can be [...]
Johannesburg CBD fire – health and safety at work
By Bradley Workman-Davies, Director The recent fire which broke out in a government building in central Johannesburg lead to the tragic loss of lives of three [...]
Labour Webinar
Our Labour experts discuss the implications of the proposed amendments to the Labour Relations Act (LRA) relating to industrial action.
Limiting employment claims: protection where it is needed
South African labour laws are renowned as being progressive and protective of employees' rights, and labour dispute resolution procedures are intentionally designed to provide expeditious and [...]
Tightening up on the offshore trust rules
The general principle is that South African resident individuals who have settled offshore trusts are taxed on the income and capital gains of that trust (or [...]
Probono@Werks
WILLS WEEK - 2018 ProBono.Org hosted a Wills Week from 23 to 27 July 2018. Lawyers from various firms in Johannesburg and Pretoria were invited to [...]
South Africa: trade marks as valuable assets to raise funding
By Janine Hollesen and Donvay Wegierski, Directors The registration of trade marks has numerous advantages one of which is that as registered trade marks are assets [...]
Labour bills sent for assent
By Jacques Van Wyk, Director and Yusha Davidson, Candidate Attorney The National Minimum Wage Bill, the Basic Conditions of Employment Amendment Bill, the Labour Relations Amendment [...]
Can you dismiss an employee for making racist comments in the workplace, which the employee believes to be friendly and inoffensive according to the employee’s culture?
By Jacques van Wyk, Director and Yusha Davidson, Candidate Attorney ISSUE Is the dismissal of an employee, who compares a fellow employee to a monkey, fair, [...]
Non-standard forms of work and the gig economy
By Bradley Workman-Davies, Director and Megan Livingstone, Candidate Attorney South African labour law creates extensive rights and protections for employees, but it is sometimes difficult to [...]
Can you dismiss an employee who refuses to adhere to the alternative plan implemented to avoid mass retrenchment?
By Jacques van Wyk, Director and Yusha Davidson, Candidate Attorney ISSUE Is it fair to dismiss an employee for refusing to comply with the recovery plan [...]
South Africa’s first case on Section 31
Multinationals with South African group companies are required to adhere to South Africa's transfer pricing legislation as found in section 31 of the Income Tax Act, [...]
When the law says – confess!
by Ahmore Burger-Smidt, Head of Data Privacy Practice The importance of a data breach plan The South African society has read about, and some members unfortunately [...]
Land Reform – ANC To Amend Constitution
The ANC has been embroiled in an internal debate on how to operationalise the resolution it took in its 54th National Conference in Nasrec, to expropriate [...]
Knock knock knocking on jail’s door
The amendments to the Competition Act, 1998, which introduce criminal liability for cartel conduct, came into effect on 1 May 2016. The amendments introduced criminal liability [...]
Is it game set and match Federer?
Roger Federer, holder of eight Wimbledon men's singles titles and currently ranked no. 2 in the world in men's tennis singles, is one of the greatest [...]
Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Commission (“Commission”) finalises its first case
On 12 July 2018, the Commission issued final findings against BEE Matrix, a BBBEE verification agent. The Commission's first finalised case in January 2018 also involved [...]
Labour brokers – some certainty at last
National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa v Assign Services & others By Jacques van Wyk, Director ISSUE Who is the employer of an employee placed [...]
Temporary Employment Service – Judgement
On 26 July 2018, the Constitutional Court upheld the decision of the Labour Appeal Court in National Union of Metalworkers of SA v Assign Services & [...]
TAKE NOTE, THE COMPETITION AMENDMENT BILL, 2018
On 12 July 2018, it was announced that the Competition Amendment Bill, 2018 ("Bill") was officially introduced to the National Assembly. This Bill details far-reaching changes [...]
The National Minimum Wage Bill
By Jacques van Wyk, Director and Yusha Davidson, Candidate Attorney INTRODUCTION The NMW Bill has been passed by the National Assembly and sent for concurrence to [...]
The Basic Conditions of Employment Bill
By: Jacques van Wyk, Director and Yusha Davidson, Candidate Attorney INTRODUCTION The Basic Conditions of Employment Amendment Bill ("BCE Bill") introduces amendments to the Basic Conditions [...]
The Labour Laws Amendment Bill
By: Jacques van Wyk, Director and Yusha Davidson, Candidate Attorney INTRODUCTION The Labour Laws Amendment Bill ("LLA Bill") is a Private Member's Bill, which was drafted [...]
Director, Neil Kirby comments on NHI and Medical Schemes Amendment Bill post the briefing by Health Minister, Aaron Motsoaledi
"The Minister of Health has described the advent of national health insurance or NHI as the land issue in the healthcare sector. Today, the Minister announced [...]