The South African Labour Relations Act, No 66 of 1995, secion 186(i) includes among unfair labour practices, unfair suspension. An "employee must be on full pay during the suspension period" states Ivan Israelstam. When may an employee be suspended without pay? Meserumule Consulting answers this question:
- Before this type of suspension can be enforced, the employee has to be found guilty of a serious transgression for which he may be dismissed.
- There should be enough mitigating circumstances that warrant offering the employee suspension without pay as a sanction, as an alternative to dismissing the employee.
- The employee should be informed that he has been found guilty of a serious transgression and that his dismissal would be appropriate, but that the company, due to the mitigating circumstances, would offer him suspension without pay as an alternative to dismissal.
- The period of suspension without pay should be specified and should not be unreasonably long.
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Before this type of suspension can be enforced, the employee has to be found guilty of a serious transgression for which he may be dismissed.
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There should be enough mitigating circumstances that warrant offering the employee suspension without pay as a sanction, as an alternative to dismissing the employee.
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The employee should be informed that he has been found guilty of a serious transgression and that his dismissal would be appropriate, but that the company, due to the mitigating circumstances, would offer him suspension without pay as an alternative to dismissal.
- The period of suspension without pay should be specified and should not be unreasonably long.
I am strongly of opinion that many of South African politicians and leaders forgot what the purpose of the struggle has been and greedly feather their own pockets at the cost of the poor. However, I find newspaper headers like this one troublesome:
Download Roodepoort Record 1 July 2011 p2-Suspended An article similar in nature appeared in the City Press. I disagree with this author. The rights of employees must be maintained, it is the efficiency of line managers with regard to disciplinary procedures that needs questioning, as well as the investigative efficiency of labour relations officers that should be in question.