Jace Consulting cc

18/11/2025

25/06/2019

As an employer it now is becoming prevalent in SA for sick certificates to be purchased without even seeing a medical doctor. There have been several cases reported in SA that certificates are issued by receptionists and nurses. This is not acceptable and you as an employer have right to question these sick notes.
Also be aware that doctors sometimes only will indicate that the patient indicated to them that he or she was sick. Example the employee is away from work Wednesday to Friday. They bring in a certificate on the following Monday where the certificate indicates that they were only seen by the Doctor on the Friday. As an employer you do NOT have to accept this as sign of illness. The employee should see the doctor at the onset of the illness and not when nearly recovered.
Also, very important is to NOT accept sick notes near long weekends or as an extension to a long weekend. You have every right to ask the doctor for an affidavit if you are not happy that the employee was sick on a Friday when it was a public holiday on the Thursday.
In the past doctor certificates were cast in stone and it was generally accepted that there was no abuse. However recent complaints to the Medical and Dental Professions Board of the Health Professions Council of South Africa shows that the trust has been broken
If you feel that the sick note is not justified (after attempts to gain clarification from the doctor), then you have the rights NOT to pay for the days taken.
Unregistered or illegal practitioners may be reported to the HPCSA through email [[email protected]], telephone [012 338 9300]

19/10/2018

Employees must allways make that they understand the code of conduct at their places of work. Claiming ignorance of the code is not a defence. Also note that common law misconduct like theft and assult does not really have to be on code of conduct for your company to hold a DH.

16/04/2018

Appeal or CCMA

There is a popular misconception that employees need to appeal their sanction given to them by a disciplinary hearing and not go the CCMA.
It is the preferred method and correct protocol. But sometimes employees feel that even with an appeal process that will not get a fair hearing.
As long as you feel that there was a procedural or substantive issue there is no reason why you cannot go direct to the CCMA or Bargaining Council

21/04/2017

As an employer one the most important asset in your business is your employees. Employees are the cogs that make your company work. The important aspect of this relationship is that there must be mutual respect.
This respect however comes with both parties know what is expected of them. The employer must provide the necessary job description with expected outcomes. The employer also needs to provide the worker with a code of conduct in terms of the displinary process. If there is understanding of this important code of conduct an employer cannot expect to find employees following the rules.
Organisation behaviour can only be mutually beneficial if there are boundaries. These boundaries will make the realisation of expectations comfortable.

07/02/2017

Constructive Dismissal 7 Feb 2017

It’s a term we often hear today much too often. It is often a term used loosely both by employers and employees alike.
The law
Section 186 (1) (e) of the Labour relations act states that in circumstances where "an employee terminated a contract of employment with or without notice because the employer made continued employment intolerable for the employee", constitutes a dismissal. This becomes the basic definition of constructive dismissal.
There is however a common thread that runs through our case laws. The employee must provide the evidence. If you feel your employer is attempting to force you to resign, try and keep records. For the employer follow your code of conduct and use your procedures fairly.
The test will always be objective and not subjective. Also as an employee exhaust all your internal processes first and keep records