Questions employers ask us

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Not always, but you do need a fair process. The Code of Good Practice: Dismissal, 2025, which took effect on 4 September 2025 and replaced both the old Schedule 8 Code and the separate code on retrenchments, says procedural fairness does not require a court-style hearing. You must tell the employee what is alleged in a language they understand, give them reasonable time to prepare, allow assistance from a trade union representative or fellow employee, genuinely consider their response, and communicate the outcome and reasons. There must also be a valid reason: a known, reasonable rule was broken and dismissal is an appropriate sanction. Small businesses may use simpler procedures, but the principles still apply.

The employee completes LRA Form 7.11, serves a copy on you and files it with the CCMA — or with the bargaining council, if one covers your sector. The deadline is 30 days after the dismissal (or after the final decision to dismiss or uphold it), or 90 days for an unfair labour practice; late referrals need condonation. A commissioner first tries to settle the dispute through conciliation, usually within 30 days. If it stays unresolved, a certificate is issued. Conduct and capacity dismissals and unfair labour practice disputes can then go to arbitration, where a final, binding award is made; some dismissals, such as automatically unfair dismissals and retrenchments, go to the Labour Court instead. Many matters are set down as con-arb (conciliation followed immediately by arbitration), so arrive with your witnesses, documents and a settlement mandate.

Section 17 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act requires every employer with more than 20 employees at a workplace to designate health and safety representatives in writing, for a specified period, after consulting in good faith with employees or their representatives on how they are nominated or elected. The minimum is one representative for every 100 employees (or part thereof) in shops and offices, and one for every 50 employees (or part thereof) at all other workplaces. An inspector can also direct you to designate representatives where there are 20 or fewer employees. Representatives must be full-time employees who know the workplace. Where two or more are designated, section 19 requires a health and safety committee that meets at least once every three months.

Regulation 3 of the General Safety Regulations under the OHS Act requires every employer to take reasonable steps so that people at work get prompt first aid. Where more than 5 employees work at a workplace, you must provide accessible, suitably stocked first-aid boxes. Where more than 10 employees work there, at least one person with a valid first-aid certificate must be readily available during normal working hours for every group of up to 50 employees — or up to 100 in a shop or office. Certificates must come from an approved training organisation and be kept current. Plan cover for every site and shift, including leave and absences, and book refresher training before certificates expire.

Almost certainly, if you employ anyone. COIDA requires you to register with the Compensation Fund within seven days of employing your first employee (domestic workers included), submit an annual Return of Earnings and pay assessments on time. Compliant employers can obtain a Letter of Good Standing, which clients and tenders often ask for. For UIF, you register as an employer, declare your employees and pay 1% of each employee's remuneration plus a matching 1% employer contribution every month, up to the earnings ceiling. The main exclusion is employees who work fewer than 24 hours a month for you. Employers registered with SARS for PAYE or SDL pay UIF through SARS; others pay the UIF directly, for example via uFiling.

By default, the head of a private body is its Information Officer. That means the sole proprietor, a partner, or the CEO (or equivalent) of a company, who may authorise another person in writing. Deputy Information Officers can also be designated. Section 55 of POPIA says Information Officers may take up their duties only after they are registered with the Information Regulator. Registration is free and done on the Regulator's eServices portal. Their duties include driving compliance with POPIA's conditions for lawful processing, dealing with data-subject and PAIA access requests, and working with the Regulator during any investigation.

Only with care. Section 198B of the LRA covers employees earning at or below the BCEA earnings threshold. They may be kept on fixed-term contracts for longer than three months only if the work is of limited or definite duration or there is another justifiable reason. Otherwise the employment is deemed permanent. The offer or renewal must be in writing and state the reason. After three months, fixed-term staff may not be treated less favourably than comparable permanent staff without justification. Employers with fewer than 10 employees are generally excluded, as are those with fewer than 50 in their first two years of business.