Employment Relation Solutions

HR SOLVED will assist with dispute resolution proceedings, including conciliation and arbitration at the CCMA, or the relevant Bargaining Council.  Consultation with trade unions also forms part of our services as well as other elements of collective agreements and organisational rights.

Director, Yumna Ameer, has accumulated a wealth of experience in this regard.  Having worked assumed the role of   HR Operations and Economic Development Lead on the Alstom-Gibela Project, the focus was predominantly:

• Stakeholder engagement and community liaison
• Developing the job creation strategy for the gate communities that were historically volatile and expressed militant sentiments regarding the establishment of the New Manufacturing Facility
• Developing at the behest of the Client the Strike Handling Policy, Labour Unrest Processes, and Industrial Action statements
• Dealing with strikes on site (unprotected) and acting on behalf of the client and contractors as advisor
• Negotiations
• Conduit of information between CLO and Project

Our approach on sensitive projects where the threat of unrest and is high and many risks need to be mitigated, is to put together a robust programme to assist staff and management alike during strikes and the ensuing employee negotiations.  This may take the form of in-house training, creating awareness with staff through bespoke communication programmes in-house. 

As HR Operations Lead at the Moses Mabhida Stadium, Yumna was an integral part of the management committee during the FIFA World Cup and remained as HR Operations Lead for the tenure of the Operator Contract with the Municipality.  Focus was predominantly:

• Developing policies and procedures for operations
• Managing labour force on match days and during events
• Chairing Disciplinaries
• Managing grievance process and hearings
• Representation at CCMA
• Investigations and reporting

One of the challenges that managers faced, especially new managers, was the inability to successfully deal with discipline and processes successfully and within the ambit of the law.  As an in-house training initiative, I had conducted a training programme called “IR101” for managers with large teams under them.  Subject matter experts were invited for some of the sessions to share real life case histories of what happens when managers are not empowered enough with adequate knowledge on labour relations.  This was a resounding success and managers felt more comfortable dealing with disciplinary issues as and when they arose.  It became easier to facilitate too should the matter escalate to the next stage as the importance of record keeping was understood by managers and staff were now empowered enough to report infractions through the correct channels.

Modules included:

• Introduction to labour relations and disciplinary action in the workplace
• Labour relations and disciplinary action in the workplace and understanding the company’s code of conduct and disciplinary policy
• The role of a manager in managing behaviour in the workplace
• Practical working examples
• Understanding the functions of the CCMA, Bargaining Councils and the Department of Labour
• Substantive and Procedural fairness
• Progressive disciplinary steps
• Classification and type of transgressions within the workplace
• Factors that influence a sanction
• Disciplinary Inquiries: Initiating and preparing for the inquiry
• Poor work performance, incapacity and absenteeism