During the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a massive surge in the number of cases going before the CCMA.

This from Bizcommunity:

 According to the CCMA when compared with last year July, the number of employees who were likely to be affected by retrenchment was in the range of about 5,728. But over the same month in 2020, the number of affected employees who are likely to be affected by retrenchment is around 22,722.

This has created a bottleneck and has slowed down the number of cases that can be resolved expeditiously.

With that in mind, it’s worth revisiting Seth’s CCMA case from a while back, and how he navigated the legalities in place…

I was recently taken to the CCMA by an employee (not 2oceansvibe) who was dismissed at the end of her one-month probation. I, personally, have never been taken to the CCMA before. But, with the insight I’ve gained from hearing friends talk about it, it’s all to do with ensuring the employee is compensated fairly. Which I’m all for, and the reason why I pre-empted any CCMA action by offering a week’s pay as compensation.

I didn’t feel this was necessary, as I believed the probation period was in place to give an employer the time to assess the candidate and make a decision without risk of CCMA action. Nonetheless, I know it’s hard to get another job while you’re not earning, which was the reason I offered the one week pay. So anyway, the employee refused the one week’s pay and I received a message to go to the CCMA in a week or two’s time, on the basis of ‘unfair dismissal’.

Cool – I’m totally fine with being taken to task by structures that are in place to protect employee’s rights to do their thing, and anyway, who am I to say what is fair?  I don’t have a problem with that.

The biggest problem for me was the short notice and my own associated time required to deal with the issue. Once someone with a grievance goes to the CCMA, the process moves pretty swiftly – unlike most legal issues which you can see coming for a while, allowing you to make the time to prepare. My wife was about to give birth to Simba the Lion King and the CCMA’s time and date fell on the same day as my daughter’s eye appointment. I could shift that appointment, but there would be a knock-on effect as other appointments would have to be shuffled as a result.

I couldn’t find a slot to consult with a Labour Lawyer, who would undoubtedly bill by the hour and require a meeting. I also didn’t want to hire someone to go to the CCMA with me, as that would be overkill. I just needed someone to give me some pointers on how to present my case, and what to expect from the CCMA.

Luckily I found Ferdi Hartzenberg on Timon. I was able to kick off an instant WhatsApp-style conversation with him for just over R10 a minute. Our text chat with images (I forwarded a screenshot of the CCMA request) took 12 minutes and cost me R160.

I didn’t have to drive anywhere. I didn’t have to park anywhere. I didn’t have to deal with reception rooms and meetings rooms and enough fluff to justify a R2 000 hourly fee.

I just got straight to the point, and paid accordingly.

Here’s the profile of Ferdi Hartzenberg on Timon:

Here’s what his profile says:

I am dynamic, with excellent expertise in the strategic human resources field, gained over a period of more than two decades.With outstanding and specialist knowledge of the labour law field, I have a superb ability to communicate and exceed our clients demanding needs and provide them with the best possible human resources solutions.

With a drive for excellence and offering a fresh perspective, Hartcorp Human Capital Solutions service both SME enterprises, as well as large national corporate entities. Since our inception we have gone from strength to stength and meeting our clients demands, we have established a national footprint in various sectors, providing a wide spectrum of professional human resources services.

Ferdi Hartzenberg renders human resources and labour law services to SME employers, so to ensure a cost efficient optimisation of resources.

As proud and accredited member of SAUEO our firm has full right of appearance at the CCMA and Bargaining Councils representing SAUEO members.

We are well represented at the CCMA and various Bargaining Councils and are well versed with complex labour matters.

TOPICS

• Representing Employers at CCMA and Bargaining Councils with Concilliation and Arbitration
• Chairing and fascilitation of disciplinary enquiries
• Condonation applications
• Audits
• Recruitment
• Performance management systems
• Human Resources and Labour Law consulting
• Job descriptions and evaluations
• HR policies and procedures
• Disciplinary code of conduct
• Employment contracts
• Succession planning
• Staff retention and reward schemes
• Restructuring and retrenchments
• Strike management

But guess what happened next?

I wasn’t able to use the advice, as the kid was born on the day of the CCMA hearing, so I missed it! Can you bloody believe it?

Oh well. I guess we’ll have to see what happens next. But I’m not stressed because Ferdi told me what to expect and it won’t be the end of the world.

I thought this info might be useful to employers being taken to the CCMA, as well as employees who feel wronged and want to know if they have a case in the first place. Everybody’s time is valuable, and the old world of consultancy (meetings and charging by the hour) is dying. People want to get to the point and they don’t want to waste money.

Timon has a number of gurus available for quick chats – including veterinarians, dentists, plumbers, DJs, models, restaurant critics, wine snobs, venture capitalists, advertising execs, sports stars, music industry legends and many more. 

Experts available at the tap of a button, whenever you need a quick chat – that’s the gig economy in action.

You can download the app via Google Play or the App Store, and once you are in you will probably never run anything by anyone else again. Not even Google.

Check out Timonapp.com and get with the gig economy.