Abstract
LL.M. (Labour Law)
Labour Law in South Africa is constantly changing and improving from time to time.
Due to the democratic dispensation which has been active since 1994, amendments
to the Labour Acts occur on a yearly basis, if not less, with the aim of improving the
position of employers and employees in the country. It is safe to say that the Labour
Relations Act 66 of 1995 is constantly being amended as the labour laws are fairly
new and need to be amended according to the changing waves of the labour force.
One aspect of labour law which has seen no codification and has only been dealt
with on rare occasions is the position of “heat of the moment” resignations.
Legislation does not recognise heat of the moment resignations as a special
category of resignation and does not provide for remedies or guidance when dealing
with these types of resignations. Case law provides some authority but these are
mostly contradicting.
It is undeniable that South Africa is facing both an economic crisis as well as an
employment crisis which affects both employees and employers. Employers have
the opportunity of hiring new employment should the loss of an employee occur.
However, employees who lose their employment do not have high prospects of
future re-employment in a short space of time. More people are now furthering their
education and obtain tertiary qualifications which create an influx of skilled applicants
in the work force, thus the positions available for employment does not coincide with
the amount of people seeking employment.
The purpose of this dissertation is to address the issues created when an employee
resigns without the intention of actually leaving the employ of the employer. The
dissertation proposes that a cooling-off period should apply to employees who have
resigned in the heat of the moment. The reason for this is that the employee should
not be penalised for acting in an emotional state and to ensure that employees are
not left out on the street due to a mistake that can be rectified in a short space of
time. Employees who have been subject to losing their jobs due to resigning in the
heat of the moment suffer high legal fees in seeking advice on how to rectify their...