CCMA Legal Assistance and How We Can Help
The Allardyce & Partners team of labour and employment law attorneys provides CCMA legal assistance to employees and employers. As a well-established labour law firm, we focus our attention specifically on issues such as unfair dismissal, strikes, lock-outs, disputes and contracts. We provide our CCMA legal assistance to employers, employer organisations, trade unions, and employees.
CCMA – Legal Assistance Body
Known in full as the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, the CCMA is governed by the Labour Relations Act of 1995, known as the LRA. It is an independent dispute resolution body that doesn’t have any political, enterprise or union affiliation.
The dispute resolution body provides legal assistance in solving disputes between employers/employer organisations and employees or their representative trade unions. The CCMA has a governing body with equal representation from organised business and organised labour, which helps to ensure fairness in decision making.
The CCMA replaced the Industrial Court and Conciliation Boards, mainly because those bodies lacked any form of credibility with employees and the result was a general distrust on the outcomes of disputes overseen by the bodies. The CCMA aims to provide legal assistance platforms where employers and employees can reach solutions and where it is possible to rule objectively over issues related to employer and employee relationships.
Only a fifth of disputes taken to the Industrial Court and Conciliation Boards were effectively solved. The success rate of the CCMA is significantly higher. Almost two thirds of disputes are effectively resolved through the CCMA. High levels of conflict characterised the older system, whereas the new LRA and CCMA aim to promote industrial peace and to ensure that the model is representative of labour and employer interests. With such also comes more trust in the system.
The CCMA has several functions including the conciliation of disputes in the workplace, facilitating the development of workplace forums, compiling of information about the body’s activities, collecting of statistics, approval of accreditation applications, and arbitrating disputes which have not been resolved after conciliation. The body has the right to oversee ballots for employer organisations as well as that of unions and to provide advice in addition to training on restructuring in the workplace, ways to prevent disputes, employment termination, processes for consultation and the development of collective bargaining councils.
Allardyce & Partners’ Role in the Process
We offer a comprehensive profile of legal assistance related services, including that of CCMA representation for employers or employees, Labour Court representation and appeals, HR and labour relations consulting, representation at bargaining councils, the High Courts, Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court, as well as the chairing of disciplinary hearings, in-house training regarding BBBEE, employment equity and skills development. We provide legal assistance with the drafting of codes and policies and staff induction.
Our team provides legal assistance regarding internal grievances and incapacity enquiries, in addition to prosecuting on behalf of the employer or representing the employee where such is permitted. Our services extend to cover legal assistance regarding restructuring, retrenchments and compliance with health and safety requirements. Other expertise areas include that of strikes and picketing procedures, and compliance with environmental laws.
We work on a “no win, no fee” basis for our legal assistance to employees. If we believe that the employee has a valid case we refer the dismissal or relevant case to the bargaining council or the CCMA and represent the employee. We draft written agreements regarding our fee structure when it comes to employers ensuring that the employers have effective quotes and control regarding usage of our legal services.
Benefit from professional CCMA legal assistance, experienced litigation and ongoing advice whether you are an employer, employee, employer organisation or trade union. Contact us to discuss your particular labour or HR issues.
*NB this article is for information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. You are advised to consult with us before using/relying on this information.
