The Firm advises on all aspects of employment law ranging from the creation of the employment relationship, the attendant rights and obligations during the continuance of such relationship and upon the termination of same. Services offered during each of these phases include advising on contractual terms of employment, workplace rules and practices, good industrial relations practice, health and safety duties, the conduct of disciplinary procedures (up to and including dismissal), retrenchment and severance as well as termination and transfer arrangements made necessary due to merger, acquisition or divestment.
The Firm’s clients in this area include employers across multiple segments of the business community ranging from financial institutions, oil and gas companies, operators of industrial undertakings and various other domestic clients. Trade unions and employees are also clients.
This practice area regularly involves the preparation of employment contracts and the provision of advice on the preparation and effective implementation of various labour related policies (including drug and alcohol policies). The practitioners in this area also have extensive experience in advising clients on the applicable rights, duties and liabilities at common law and also under the Industrial Relations Act, the Retrenchment and Severance Benefits Act and other labour related legislation. Advising on contentious litigation proceedings between employers and employees before the local Industrial Court is also an integral part of this practice area.
Since the passage of the Occupational Safety and Health Act in 2004 the Firm has steadfastly developed expertise in this area of law in order to service the needs of its clients which include upstream oil and gas companies and the operators of large industrial undertakings. The department now regularly advises clients on various occupational health and safety obligations as well as plays an active role in assisting and advising clients with interactions and exchanges of correspondence between them and the Occupational Safety and Health Agency.
Substantial experience in the establishment and operation of pension plans, employee profit sharing plans and other such plans also resides within this area and the Firm regularly assists in the preparation and review of the legal documentation used to establish and support such plans as well as advises on regulatory requirements and pension restructuring.
Vishma Jaisingh, Partner | Jon Paul Mouttet, Partner (OSHA)