What is strikes and lockouts

A partial strike is where employees are still undertaking some form of their work ie they have not withdrawn their labour in full. Employers may respond to a partial strike by either bearing the cost of the strike, suspending employees who are a party to the partial strike, or lockout employees who are engaged in a partial strike locked out and suspended employees are not entitled to any remuneration. There are strict notice requirements for strikes and lockouts designed to allow an opportunity for negotiations and mediation, and to allow for contingency plans to be prepared.

A strike or lockout is unlawful if it fails to give the required notice. Any omission or error eg typo about the specified information that is minor and technical in nature will not invalidate the notice. What may be minor or technical will be up to Employment Relations Authority to decide on a case by case basis.

The information in the notice must be clear enough so that a reasonable recipient of the notice would be able to make plans to deal with the action without using up the timeframe trying to clarify the information provided.

While compliance with notice requirements is expected, the Employment Court may choose to take a practical rather than pedantic approach to interpreting the legality of a strike or lockout notice.

Strike and lockout notices are an important part of a strike or lockout in essential services or certain transport services and schools. They give the parties a chance to reach an agreement to avoid the strike or lockout, and give the other parties a chance to make contingency plans.

If there is a strike or lock-out over collective bargaining in an essential service, and the proposed strike will affect the public interest including public safety or health a union or employer must give written notice to the other parties within the specified timeframe. The party giving notice should make sure that the method of giving notice actually brings it to the attention of the other party, eg pushing an envelope under closed doors after hours will not bring it to the attention of the other party.

This should be done at the same time as notice is given to the other party so that employment mediation services can be offered as soon as possible. A strike or lockout notice can be withdrawn at any time by written notice to the other party and the Chief Executive of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

There is no minimum time for this to be done but employers need to know when a strike ends to be able to quickly restart normal pay to striking employees. An employer can suspend an employee who is on strike but must let them know why they plan to suspend them, including which section of the Employment Relations Act the employer is relying on. A suspended employee keeps being a party to the strike.

Employers can suspend non-striking employees until the strike ends, if the work they normally do is not available because of the strike.

Non-striking employees can go to the Employment Relations Authority for a compliance order if they want to challenge the suspension. Before any strike or lockout action starts, the union s or employer must give written notice to the:.

Employees can only lawfully strike or be locked out if they will be bound by the collective agreement being bargained for. In other words, employees can only strike or be locked out if they are represented by a union who is bargaining on their behalf. When that bargaining results in a strike or lockout, only those employees represented in that process can be involved. In addition, employees cannot go on strike or be locked out if:.

There are other relevant factors that determine whether a strike or lockout is legal, and these can change depending on the industry. For instance, for essential services such as hospitals and ambulances. Here, there are additional requirements to give extra notice when planning a strike or lockout.

For this reason, you should get specific legal advice if considering a strike or lockout. Strikes and lockouts are tools used by parties in collective bargaining, in order to pressure the other side to agree to their demands or terms. Strikes involve employees stopping or limiting their work or breaking their employment agreement.

There are a range of legal considerations to think about with strikes and lockouts, particularly in terms of notice and which employees can be involved. You should get specific legal advice if your business is either facing a strike or considering a lockout.

They do not need to completely stop work in order for the action to be considered a strike. Both strikes and lockouts are tactical maneuvers aimed at getting the other side either the employer or the group of employees to agree to their demands or new terms of employment. They are high risk as they tend to escalate tensions between the parties and harm the relationship. They can also cause emotional and economic hardship to employees and their families.

Employees may be retrenched for operational reasons as a result of the strike. Employees may be arrested and prosecuted for committing a criminal offence during a strike. The employer does not have to pay the employees during a strike. However, the employer has to make payments in kind which include food, accommodation and other benefits such as pension, medical aid and so on.

Employers may appoint replacement labour in response to a strike. Date updated: May Legal content disclaimer The information contained on this website is aimed at providing members of the public with guidance on the law in South Africa. Join now Contact us Subscribe. Want to keep learning? This content is taken from University of Bergen online course,. This content is taken from University of Bergen online course. Share this post. See other articles from this course. This article is from the online course:.

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