Topics that will be covered at this year’s seminar:

• A steady flow of court decisions tweaking and sometimes shaking the everyday employment practices: can an employer claim “operational incapacity” in the case of an imprisoned employee? What is the reach of the notion of “group misconduct"? A new clutch of decisions on what constitutes a resignation and the automatic termination of contracts of employment. And the SCA decides, on a second take, that in fact employers are not subject to a duty of fair dealing.
• The tricky matter of transfers of contracts of employment continues to test new boundaries. Now, the Labour Court tells us, if a franchisor terminates the contract of one franchisee and brings in another, there has in fact been the transfer of a business as a going concern. That means that people who thought they had lost their jobs have just been moved along.
• Retrenchments and transfers: employers caught between a rock and a hard place. Where an employer outsources a complete segment of staff there is no s 197 transfer, says the Labour Court, but the exercise is open to be branded as an unfair dismissal.
• While the spectre of another tranche of amendments to labour legislation appears to have receded, the new Companies Act will provide unions with interesting powers and rights.
• Employers will need to come to terms with the provisions of the Protection of Personal Information Bill currently before Parliament. Specifically, employers will have to adjust how they collect, store, use and communicate employee personal information.
• Contrary to “accepted wisdom”, the Labour Appeal Court have held that illegally employed employees, including sex workers, may be entitled to remedies for unfair dismissal.
• Labour brokers and their customers beware – the Labour Court and arbitrators are increasingly seeking ways to protect employees of labour brokers who they feel have been unfairly dismissed.
• Trouble in the public sector: how do we get the bargaining system to pre-empt hugely damaging strikes?
  

Alec Freund
Alec is a senior counsel who has practiced in the field of employment law for more than 25 years. He has been appointed from time to time as an acting judge of the Labour Court and of the High Court.

Peter le Roux
Peter is a Director of Brink Cohen le Roux Inc where he practices in the field of labour law and employee benefits law. He is also an Honorary Professor at the University of South Africa, editor of and contributor to Contemporary Labour Law and a co-author of Essential Labour Law.

Clive Thompson
Clive is a director of the workplace relations consultancy CoSolve and an experienced mediator, facilitator and arbitrator. He is an attorney of the High Court, Adjunct Professor at the Institute of Development &Labour Law at UCT, senior visiting fellow at the University of New South Wales, Australia and co-author of SA Labour Law.

Dates and venues 
15 November 2010 – Cape Town, Vineyard Hotel (021-657 4590)
16 November 2010 – Port Elizabeth, NMMU Conference Centre (041-504 3381)
17 November 2010 – Durban, Elangeni Hotel (031-362 1300)
18 November 2010 – Johannesburg, Southern Sun Grayston Hotel (011-783 5262)
19 November 2010 – Johannesburg, Gallagher Convention Centre (011-266 3000)

The Fees (VAT Inclusive) 
Registration fee
One delegate – R2991.60
Two or more delegates – R2692.44 per delegate