{"id":89354,"date":"2025-09-07T18:38:57","date_gmt":"2025-09-07T18:38:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/big-changes-for-retrenchments-and-dismissals-in-south-africa"},"modified":"2025-09-07T18:40:50","modified_gmt":"2025-09-07T18:40:50","slug":"big-changes-for-retrenchments-and-dismissals-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/big-changes-for-retrenchments-and-dismissals-in-south-africa","title":{"rendered":"Big changes for retrenchments and dismissals in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>The Minister of Employment and Labour, Nomakhosazana Meth, has gazetted a new code of practice for the dismissal of employees.<\/p>\n

The code became effective from the date of publication, 4 September, and repeals the previous Schedule 8 Code of Good Practice on Dismissal and the Code of Good Practice Based on Operational Requirements.<\/p>\n

Nadeem Mahomed and Sashin Naidoo from Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr said the code provides comprehensive and practical guidelines to employers, employees and trade unions.<\/p>\n

This includes matters related to misconduct, incapacity, and operational requirements, i.e. retrenchments, under the Labour Relations Act.<\/p>\n

The final code ultimately mirrors the draft code released for comment on 22 January 2025.<\/p>\n

The experts said the code is incredibly general and allows for departures in appropriate circumstances, particularly for small businesses.<\/p>\n

Regarding the code\u2019s substance, it confirms that dismissals must have a procedurally fair process linked to conduct, capacity or operational requirements.<\/p>\n

Moreover, the process needs to be context-appropriate. Dismissal is reserved for cases where continued employment is intolerable.<\/p>\n

However, the code allows small businesses flexibility in applying disciplinary and consultation procedures.<\/p>\n

It also emphasised that the purpose of a fair procedure is to foster dialogue and reflection, and reflects the court\u2019s view regarding the informal nature of disciplinary hearings.<\/p>\n

It also signals a legislative move towards a decriminalised approach to procedural fairness.<\/p>\n

Generally, employees involved in similar misconduct under similar circumstances should receive comparable sanctions.<\/p>\n

However, if the misconduct damages the employment relationship irreparably, dismissal can be fair, even if it\u2019s inconsistent with prior sanctions.<\/p>\n

The code also guides on probationary periods, such as a reasonable duration and a less onerous justification for non-confirmation.<\/p>\n

It also looks at incapacity, including incompatibility, ill-health and poor performance, as well as participation in unprotected strikes, including the issuing of ultimatums and providing sufficient time to comply.<\/p>\n

Misusing probation as a mechanism to deprive employees of permanent employment status may constitute an unfair dismissal.<\/p>\n

Finally, the code integrates retrenchment guidance, requiring written notice, good faith consultation on alternatives, fair and objective selection criteria, statutory severance, and preferential re-employment.<\/p>\n

The code of practice can be found below:<\/p>\n

Dismissal- Code of PracticeDownload<\/p>\n

Second big change this week<\/b><\/p>\n

The new dismissal code was issued shortly after the Employment Equity Reporting period officially opened in South Africa.<\/p>\n

The submission of EE reports for the 2025 reporting period began on Monday, 1 September.<\/p>\n

This aligns with the Employment Equity Amendment Act of 2022, which became operational from 1 January 2025.<\/p>\n

The new law mainly applies to businesses that employ 50 or more people and requires that their workforces show the country\u2019s demographics at all levels.<\/p>\n

The department has thus set out specific numerical targets across 18 industries in South Africa that businesses must fill with \u2018designated employees\u2019.<\/p>\n

These designated employees include black (African, Coloured and Indian), female and disabled workers.<\/p>\n

Failure to see employers face fines of up to R1.5 million or 2% of turnover, and have their Employment Equity Compliance Certificates, which are necessary for state contracts, withdrawn.<\/p>\n

Under the EE Act, designated employers must prepare and implement an EE plan from 1 September 2025 until 31 August 2030.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. The Minister of Employment and Labour, Nomakhosazana Meth, has gazetted a new code of practice for the dismissal of employees. The code became effective from the date of publication, 4 September, and repeals the previous Schedule 8 Code of Good Practice on Dismissal and the Code of Good Practice Based on Operational […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":89352,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[275],"class_list":["post-89354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nBig changes for retrenchments and dismissals in South Africa - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Minister of Employment and Labour, Nomakhosazana Meth, has gazetted a new code of practice for the dismissal of empl ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/big-changes-for-retrenchments-and-dismissals-in-south-africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Big changes for retrenchments and dismissals in South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Minister of Employment and Labour, Nomakhosazana Meth, has gazetted a new code of practice for the dismissal of empl ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/big-changes-for-retrenchments-and-dismissals-in-south-africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-07T18:38:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-07T18:40:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/09\/sm_1757257819.154916.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"576\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/big-changes-for-retrenchments-and-dismissals-in-south-africa#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/big-changes-for-retrenchments-and-dismissals-in-south-africa\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Big changes for retrenchments and dismissals in South Africa\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-07T18:38:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-07T18:40:50+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/big-changes-for-retrenchments-and-dismissals-in-south-africa\"},\"wordCount\":528,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/big-changes-for-retrenchments-and-dismissals-in-south-africa#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/09\/sm_1757257819.154916.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/big-changes-for-retrenchments-and-dismissals-in-south-africa#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/big-changes-for-retrenchments-and-dismissals-in-south-africa\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/big-changes-for-retrenchments-and-dismissals-in-south-africa\",\"name\":\"Big changes for retrenchments and dismissals in South Africa - 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