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Post Info TOPIC: Endless arbitration at the MEIBC
Far side of the world

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Endless arbitration at the MEIBC
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A friend of mine , on the strong encouragement of a number of labour lawyers, resigned from her job and filed a constructive dismissal case against her former employee 15 months ago.  The lawyer upon seeing the resistance the company was willing to put up bailed.  A second lawyer confirmed that it was 'the best documented case of constructive dismissal they'd ever seen', and yet also bailed when my unemployed friend could not pay them a large retainer up front.   The company she worked for had a strict policy of not even allowing union representatives onto their premises (+500 employees, no one 'allowed' to be a member of a union).  So my friend has been left to battle it alone against the company lawyers at the MEIBC.  Last fall, my friend presented her case in approximately 3 hours, since then there have been about 6 days of hearings spread over 10 months throughout all of which she has been under cross examination by the respondent lawyers for the full day (asking questions with little or no relevance to the evidence she presented).  Finally at the last hearing a month ago, the commissioner (who's conduct throughout has been quite suspect) decided to recuse herself at the respondent's request, and the procedure is to start anew if the MEIBC ever assigns a new commissioner and a new date. 

I have tried to raise issue over the procedure with higher-ups at the MEIBC and also at the CCMA  but get I get completely stonewalled at every turn. 

My questions are numerous and if anyone can give answers or opinions on any of them we would greatly appreciate it,

They are,

 

Is this simply how the procedure goes?  Can the MEIBC prolong an arbitration proceeding indefinitely simply to never have to make a ruling? 

Is the MEIBC  entirely incompetent or known to accept bribes from companies?

Can an individual expect justice (or even just any ruling) if they don't have a union and can't afford legal representation? If so, how many years should it take?

At this point we really just want to know when to call it quits. It boggles my mind because the respondent company has already spent more on lawyers than the entire settlement my friend is asking for, and they refuse to negotiate ANY compromise.  The MEIBC itself has probably spent nearly the amount paying the now-recused commissioner and other courtroom costs. 

Finally, if all else fails and we resign this case,

Is there a way to  'out' a company?   This company is rife with labour violations, not just to my friend but throughout their operations, which my friend could present evidence of and testify to.  Where do we go with this information to help current and future employees out, so they don't suffer the same fate as my friend?

If you've read this far, Thank you for taking the time, I appreciate it.  Please respond with any insights you might have.  We are desperate at this point just to know from others what the labour law landscape actually looks like so that we can put what we are going through into perspective. 

 

Thank you

and thanks for this site!  It took me forever to find it, but I'm very glad a forum for employee issues is alive in SA!

 

S.

 

 

 



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Anonymous

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Hi I hear you, it does not appear that there is any justice for individuals. We have the same problem at out company and people have resigned and taken voluntary retrenchment.

When you contact the CCMA, they very rude and abrupt, some replies even were find a new job. The law says that if you see someone being victimised or rights being  trampled on, you can report it, but when you try the CCMA and labour department there is no joy.

After months of trying to demote on of my colleagues unfairly and having failed, using external arbitration, the company declares restructure and retrenchment the next month after they lost the case against him and make his post redundant and create new post that incorporates some of his functions at a salary half of what he earned and thus he is retrenched or decided to take retrenchment as the salary is low and the status is not equivalent to his old post.

If a job is made redundant does that not imply there is not need for the functions of that post, so how can the functions then be transferred to others.



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Anonymous

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Guys,

You do NOT need an attorney for CCMA or MEIBC, simply engage the services of a goo HR support organisation. Any good HR practitioner should be able to assess and advise. Constructive dismissal is INCREDIBLY hard to prove, and a large amount of supporting documentation is required. But my advice would be to simply ask a practitioner to have a look at the case and decide if there are grounds to proceed. Remember, you have nothing to lose, and NO application can be turned down.

 

As far as the MEIBC "drawing" the case out, I have never heard of that. Once all arguements are heard, an award must be made, simple.

And as for the company that engages in bad practice....plant the seed with the 500 workforce, they can be a powerful tool!!!

 

 

 



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