Retrenchments by Edcon between 2013 and 2014 have come back to haunt the company.
About 3 000 employees were let go between April 2013 and last year in a process allegedly riddled with procedural errors - and now its ex-workers are demanding the clothing retailer pay for its mistakes.
Of the retrenched workers, 1 331 are taking the company to court claiming their dismissals for operational reasons are invalid and demanding to be reinstated with full back pay.
The workers say the company failed to comply with the Labour Relations Act (LRA) by referring their retrenchments for operational reasons to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) and did not wait the required time before issuing notices terminating contracts.
"If an employer who retrenches a large number of employees is not aware of the law as it stands, it has only itself to blame," say the workers in papers filed at the Constitutional Court.
The matter will be heard next Tuesday.
Edcon, which owns Edgars and Jet among others, says the workers are capitalising on its mistake by not complying with the LRA and want the appeal thrown out.
The workers are appealing a March 2015 Labour Appeal Court (LAC) judgment by Acting Judge John Murphy, Deputy Judge-President Pule Tlaletsi and Judge Cagney Musi who found that the failure to comply with sections of the LRA resulting in the invalidity of the dismissals was wrong and an erroneous interpretation.
The judges found that noncompliance with these provisions does not lead to an invalid dismissal.
The judges made their ruling despite two previous LAC judgments making the opposite findings.
The Labour Court is to hear a separate case brought by the workers after the Constitutional Court has settled the current dispute.
The dispute relates to whether there has been compliance with the section of the LRA and whether previous pronouncements and the interpretation of the section by the LAC are correct and constitutionally sustainable.
sidimbal@sowetan.co.za
Retrenched staff haunt Edcon
Retrenchments by Edcon between 2013 and 2014 have come back to haunt the company.
About 3 000 employees were let go between April 2013 and last year in a process allegedly riddled with procedural errors - and now its ex-workers are demanding the clothing retailer pay for its mistakes.
Of the retrenched workers, 1 331 are taking the company to court claiming their dismissals for operational reasons are invalid and demanding to be reinstated with full back pay.
The workers say the company failed to comply with the Labour Relations Act (LRA) by referring their retrenchments for operational reasons to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) and did not wait the required time before issuing notices terminating contracts.
"If an employer who retrenches a large number of employees is not aware of the law as it stands, it has only itself to blame," say the workers in papers filed at the Constitutional Court.
The matter will be heard next Tuesday.
Edcon, which owns Edgars and Jet among others, says the workers are capitalising on its mistake by not complying with the LRA and want the appeal thrown out.
The workers are appealing a March 2015 Labour Appeal Court (LAC) judgment by Acting Judge John Murphy, Deputy Judge-President Pule Tlaletsi and Judge Cagney Musi who found that the failure to comply with sections of the LRA resulting in the invalidity of the dismissals was wrong and an erroneous interpretation.
The judges found that noncompliance with these provisions does not lead to an invalid dismissal.
The judges made their ruling despite two previous LAC judgments making the opposite findings.
The Labour Court is to hear a separate case brought by the workers after the Constitutional Court has settled the current dispute.
The dispute relates to whether there has been compliance with the section of the LRA and whether previous pronouncements and the interpretation of the section by the LAC are correct and constitutionally sustainable.
sidimbal@sowetan.co.za
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