{"id":846131,"date":"2025-12-11T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=846131"},"modified":"2025-12-11T11:00:53","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T09:00:53","slug":"end-of-work-from-home-warning-for-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/846131\/end-of-work-from-home-warning-for-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"End of work-from-home warning for South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A recent Labour Court judgment has delivered another warning to employers in South Africa who are considering terminating work-from-home arrangements: contracts and negotiation are paramount.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The case involved an employee working for a firm in Gauteng who semigrated to the Western Cape during the COVID-19 pandemic to work remotely, with the employer’s approval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A key point of contention arose when it was found that the employee in question saw the move as permanent, while the employer understood it to be a temporary arrangement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This came to a head in late 2023, where, following significant business losses, the employer decided to unilaterally end all work-from-home arrangements and required all staff to return to the office within two months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The employee requested an extension and permission to continue working remotely until March 2024, but this was denied, and they were required to return to Gauteng in January 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to law firm ENS, following the return-to-office instruction, the employee found themselves increasingly excluded from key decisions and management functions, and communication with management deteriorated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shortly after the directive, the employee submitted a medical certificate for anxiety and depression, supported by their doctor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

HR initially acknowledged their sick leave and indicated they would be paid, but this was then withdrawn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The employee was then accused of malingering, had their salary docked and was threatened with disciplinary action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The employee resigned with immediate effect, citing intolerable working conditions, and referred a constructive dismissal dispute to the CCMA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The commissioner of the CCMA initially found in favour of the employer, but on review, the Labour Court overturned this decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ENS said the Labour Court found that the employer’s abrupt reveral of sick leave, its accusatory communications, and salary reduction all constituted a breach of implied terms of mutual trust and confidence in the employment contract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the employee resigned, the court found this wasn’t voluntary, but rather a reasonable response to the intolerable conditions created by the employer’s conduct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The court awarded the employee compensation equivalent to three months\u2019 salary plus the unpaid portion of their November 2023 remuneration, totaling over R310,500.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The work from home problem<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While the judgement dealt with the employer’s behaviour after the work-from-home arrangements with withdrawn, it is evident that problems were arising as a result of the remote work situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ENS said that it is critical for employers to clearly document the terms of any remote work arrangements, especially the conditions for terminations when relocation is involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Labour Court has repeatedly shown that it will rule against employers who unilaterally decide to adopt return-to-office (RTO) policies without proper consultation or negotiation with affected employees.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The court has also shown a clear move against employers who try to use these orders as an excuse punish employees who do not abide by the instruction or insist on negotiating the terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no specific provision for remote work in South Africa\u2019s labour laws, including the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) and the Labour Relations Act (LRA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, provisions for remote work, hybrid work and virtual work are determined when negotiating and signing contracts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If employers have negotiated working conditions that facilitate remote or hybrid work, they cannot unilaterally change these without renegotiating with employees<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Negotiated work-from-home agreements are not simple policies that can be flipped and changed, and employers cannot use them as tools to retaliate against employees or dismiss them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“While the burden of proof on an employee in a constructive dismissal claim is high, and claims of intolerability are notoriously difficult to prove, actions that undermine trust can expose employers to constructive dismissal claims.” ENS said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These actions include abrupt policy changes or reversals, unfounded accusations, excluding an employee and the inconsistent application of rules.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A recent Labour Court judgment has delivered another warning to employers in South Africa who are considering terminating work-from-home arrangements.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":830432,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[12340,19213],"class_list":["post-846131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-ens-africa","tag-work-from-home"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=846131"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846131\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":846140,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846131\/revisions\/846140"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/830432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=846131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=846131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=846131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}