LABOUR LAW: DISMISSAL CODE OF GOOD PRACTICE GAZETTED

LABOUR LAW: DISMISSAL CODE OF GOOD PRACTICE GAZETTED

• 04 September 2025
• Labour Law
• SA Legal Academy

The Department of Employment & Labour has gazetted a code of good practice on dismissals, having released it in draft form in January 2025 for public comment. Immediately effective, the new code repeals and replaces:

• the 1995 Labour Relations Act’s Schedule 8, and
• the 1999 code of good practice on operational requirements.

According to the code’s introductory section, it:

• is ‘intentionally general’ (departures may be justifiable ‘in proper circumstances’)
• is underpinned by the principle of mutual respect between employers and employees
• places a ‘premium’ on:
  • ‘employment justice’
  • the ‘operational efficiency’ of a business, and
  • the ‘expeditious resolution of disputes’
• does not alter ‘the rights and obligations created under a collective agreement’, and
• takes account of ‘the circumstances in which small businesses operate’.

Against that backdrop, among other things the code deals with:

• fairness, including:
  • fair reason for a misconduct dismissal
  • fair sanction, and
  • fair procedure
• industrial action
• probation and related matters
• poor work performance
• incapacity, and
• dismissal in the context of operational requirements.

Please click the link below for more information:

• new code of good practice

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