Retrenchment whilst being pregnant

[4x4Maniac]

So today my wife got a letter from her employer about "Isssues regarding Oprational requirements" time to submit possible work arounds not to retrench, so it seems they are following the correct procedures.

The problem however is, who will employ my wife when she only goes onto maternity only in Feb?

She has only been working for them for 9 months...

What does the labour law say about being pregnant, not already on Maternity? Would it be an unfair dismissal? What type of severance package should be expected?

Uif will only help for 4 months.... What if she is officially retrenched on the 1st of Jan or even 1st of Dec?

[GI Jane]

2. Chapter 2 - Prohibition of Unfair Discrimination
2.1 No person may unfairly discriminate, directly or indirectly, against an employee in any employment policy or practice, on one or more grounds including race, gender, pregnancy, marital status, family responsibility, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, HIV status, conscience, belief, political opinion, culture, language, and birth.

quoted from (Summary of the Employment Equity Act, 55 of 1998, issued in terms of Section 25(1))

I would have a look at this and see whether this applies to your wife....

https://www.labour.gov.za/legislation/a ... equity-act" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

She will also have to have a look at her employment contract that she signed, if she has one....

[Stef]

Well, engage them...maybe they are trying to find a way of employing her while being pregnant...

example: a friend of ours was changed to a casual (or something to that effect) so that she could still claim unemployment while also being paid by the company as she was still working from home while on maternaty leave. Sounded silly at the time, but she benefited from it; maybe the financial guru's could explain.

[JEEPIE]

eish
not to nice

[Hoppy]

Contact "Nugget", he works with labour law.

o74l46lo3o

[Thunder02]

Not the stress she needs now,sorry to hear this.Labour law overrides any contracts signed,otherwise what is the point of labour laws.not many people know this.If i where in her shoes i would approach them,they should have some sympathy towards her because of the situation.
Take the letter she received to labour council,and let them look into it.Worse thing to do is sit back and wait on them.
Hope all the best for you guys

[LouisZ]

Jammer, maar dis glad nie wetlik nie.

[MOFASA]

This is really bad news, I hope its just a letter and it doesn't come into reality for you guys.....

[Danman]

The question is why is she being retrenched.
If it is because she is pregnant, then it's illegal and the labour law is on her side.
If it is for any other reason(other than stipulated as discrimination in labour law) it's legal.

The employer can retrench(with reason) anyone as long as they comply to labour law regardless of the person's condition or disability.

[Sebata]

i think he prudent thing would be to get somebody with expertise on the labour matter & get a full interpretation of the contents of the letter interpreted then start building your case from there

[Scorpion]

I'm not a labour law expert, so if Nugget is, then much rather follow his lead. What I can however tell you is to ascertain the following:

1.) Why are they retrenching? Operational requirements are valid, but what operational requirements? Position redundant? Financial difficulties, etc?
2.) What are they offering?
3.) Possibility of re-employment?
4.) How many other people are they retrenching?
5.) Are they planning on replacing her?

There will be more questions, but what is pertinent is to get a much information as possible before starting any possible fight. Especially "before" you get experts involved. Opponents are much more inclined to volunteer information if they believe you are going to accept there offer.

What I can tell you is that if her pregnancy had anything to do with her retrenchment it will be deemed unfair dismissal and she will be entitled to compensation. They are also not allowed to replace her if she is retrenched. Unfortunately, your worst case scenario is that it's all above board and she will only be entitled to 1 weeks salary for every FULL year worked, i.e. she might not get anything. However, employers normally offer a bit more, plus a full month paid while they allow employees to look for other work.

Good luck and keep us updated!

[4x4Maniac]

Thanks all for the advice, that's pretty much what we've been doing, we got advice to first get all the facts and ride it out making note of every single detail and not putting up a fight. If they do anything wrong, by not following the right process then we'll nail them, but what is already apparent is how they handle the first letters, they are having meetings on Monday so she needs to provide them a letter that states she is already in another job function that the mentioned being redundant. So hopefully the thing can be dragged out as long as possible. She already requested maternity leave so let's see if they are stupid enough to approve it.

[LouisZ]

Werner,

Die kraam verlof kan nie afgekeur word nie, maak nie eers saak of haar pos gevries word of wat ook al nie. As hulle dink hulle gaan haar kraam verlof/kraam as verskoning kan gebruik om haar te laat gaan gaan hulle vasloop teen 'n berg.

So as hulle die pos verander/stop gaan hulle in elk geval haar moet inskuif in 'n ander pos. Al is dit vir 'n minder/meer salaris voor sy dan op verlof gaan. En die pos of die erste sal daar wees as sy terug keer.

Onthou net sy is geregtig op haar volle kraamverlof. Gaan maak ook seker wat staan in haar werkskontrak, dit moet voldoen aan die basiese beroepswet, net onthou as sy geteken het vir 'n minder tydperk dan sal hulle in elk geval daarby moet bly.

Kry net alle korrespondensie op skrif.

Sterkte,

[4x4Maniac]

Dankie Louis, ek sal seker maak alles is op skif...

[ROOFER]

alle voor spoet & sterkte

[4x4Maniac]

Wil julle gou laat weet het, moes seker al...

maar ons het mos n prokureur gaan sien en alles uitgesorteer toe sommer by CCMA, 5 maande vergoeding gekry...

[jgduvenage]

Baie goeie skiking gekry, moes wees om prosedure nie wetlik reg was nie.na regte sou jou vrou op veel minder geregtig gewees het

[ROOFER]

Wil julle gou laat weet het, moes seker al...

maar ons het mos n prokureur gaan sien en alles uitgesorteer toe sommer by CCMA, 5 maande vergoeding gekry...

dankie dis n Brokkie goeie nuus! geluk

[Mud Dog]

Bly om te hoor van die goeie uitkoms!

[Traveler]

Sjoe Werner, dit is darem 'n tikkie goeie nuus.