A new judgment by the Labour Appeal Court could mean an employee whose employment had been terminated, could have more convenient and affordable access to justice than under the old system. So say Bradley Workman Davies and Kerry Badal, of Werksmans Attorneys, in an article on the Fin24 site.

In their view, this could be the practical effect of the court’s decision in the recent case between the CCMA and MBS Transport regarding a party who is successful in the CCMA and who receives a monetary arbitration award in their favour. Davies says that when an employee receives an award in his or her favour – if the CCMA found an employee had been unfairly dismissed – the question was how to enforce a monetary award, for instance.

He explains that the Labour Appeal Court decision adds to the ability of the CCMA to be ‘a one-stop shop for the first stage of the resolution of labour disputes’. The case recognises the right of the CCMA to enforce arbitration awards issued by it, through its own process of certifying awards, and without having to revert to the Labour Court to issue the writ of execution. Accordingly, they say, the new case law has the effect that once the CCMA has certified an arbitration award, such an award is enforceable as if it were an order of the Labour Court in respect of which a writ had been issued.

Full analysis on Fin24 site

CCMA v MBS Transport CC and Others