<--- Back to contents Chapter 8 - Labour LawThe Labour Relations Act (No 66 of 1995)The Labour Relations Act (LRA) governs how employers and workers should deal with each other. It is not about terms and conditions of employment. It deals with rights of individuals regarding fairness, bargaining and dispute resolution and rights and obligations of trade unions.
Who is covered by the LRA?
Except for members of the South African National Defence Force, National Intelligence Agency and Secret Service, all workers are covered by the LRA, including farmworkers, domestic workers and public sector workers (such as teachers, nurses, police and so on who work for the state). An independent contractor is not defined as a n ‘employee’ and is therefore excluded from the LRA and BCEA provisions.
What is the LRA about?
The LRA covers things like: - rights of workers to form and join a union
- rights of employers to form and join an employers' organisation
- the rights of trade unions in the workplace
- collective bargaining
- Bargaining Councils and Statutory Councils
- the establishment of workplace forums, which allow workers to participate in management decisions at work
- what are fair and unfair labour practices
- procedures that must be followed for dismissals to be fair
- dispute resolution structures and procedures, including the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration
- industrial action
Paralegals will not often deal with issues under the LRA, except where a worker has a problem because they believe they have been unfairly treated at work or have been unfairly dismissed. Most labour disputes involve unfair labour practices or unfair dismissals. The rest of this section looks at unfair labour practices, unfair dismissals, using the CCMA for dispute resolution, and what the LRA says about industrial action. Trade unions are dealt with later in the chapter. See Trade unions
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