across the bar

Retrenchments - getting rid of bad apples

by Steve - Posted 15 July 2009

In the recent Labour Court case of Janse Van Rensburg v Super Group Trading [2009] 3 BLLR 201 (LC), the employer, Super Group Trading, identified valid operational requirements for embarking on a retrenchment exercise. Janse Van Rensburg, a senior manager with the company, was identified as a possible candidate for retrenchment.

Janse Van Rensburg was a difficult character who was found by his co-workers to be rude and aggressive and difficult to work with. Under the auspices of allegations that he had made disparaging remarks about the company, Janse Van Rensburg was suspended.

He referred a dispute to the Labour Court claiming that he had been unfairly dismissed. The court found that although there were genuine operational requirements that warranted a downsizing exercise, the decision to retrench Janse Van Rensburg had been taken before the consultation process began and was largely premised on the fact that his colleagues did not enjoy working with him rather than on the valid selection criteria laid  down by the Labour Relations Act.   

Our R0.02:

You can’t get rid of unwanted members of your team by using operational requirements as an excuse. If you would like more information on the correct selection criteria to apply when choosing employees to be retrenched, give us a call.