Horspersa and Others v Members of the Executive Council (D336/2000) [2000] ZALC 59 (29 June 2000)

Horspersa and Others v Members of the Executive Council (D336/2000) [2000] ZALC 59 (29 June 2000)

The court found that the employer's decision to require all X-ray clerks, including those previously exempt, to perform rotational night-shift duties constituted a unilateral change to the terms and conditions of employment. As the applicants are employed in an essential service, the dispute must be resolved in terms of section 74 of the Labour Relations Act. The respondents themselves treated the matter as a collective issue and referred it to the Health Chamber, which is considered a Bargaining Council. The court rejected the respondents' argument that section 74 applies only to collective disputes and found no evidence that the proceedings in the Health Chamber had been abandoned....

Citation
[2000] ZALC 59
Parties
Applicant: HORSPERSA & OTHERS; Respondent: THE MEMBERS OF THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL FOR HEALTH KWAZULU-NATAL AND OTHERS
Court
Labour Court
Jurisdiction
South Africa
Judgment Date
29 June 2000
Case Number
D336/2000
Procedural Posture
Urgent Application / Application for Urgent Interdict
Outcome
Application granted. Urgent interdictory relief awarded to applicants pending the outcome of section 74 proceedings.
Judges
G.O. Van Niekerk
Legal Topics
Unilateral Change of Conditions, Essential Services, Collective Dispute, Interdict, Disciplinary Proceedings
Labour Law Civil Procedure Unilateral Change of Conditions Essential Services Collective Dispute Interdict Disciplinary Proceedings

Case Brief

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Parties

HORSPERSA & OTHERS

Applicant

THE MEMBERS OF THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL FOR HEALTH KWAZULU-NATAL AND OTHERS

Respondent

Procedural Posture

Urgent Application / Application for Urgent Interdict

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether the employer may unilaterally change the terms and conditions of employment for X-ray clerks by imposing a new roster system.
  2. 2 Whether the applicants, as employees in an essential service, are entitled to relief pending the outcome of section 74 proceedings under the Labour Relations Act.
  3. 3 Whether the respondents may take disciplinary action or make salary deductions against the applicants for refusing to comply with the new roster system.

Ratio Decidendi

The court found that the employer's decision to require all X-ray clerks, including those previously exempt, to perform rotational night-shift duties constituted a unilateral change to the terms and conditions of employment. As the applicants are employed in an essential service, the dispute must be resolved in terms of section 74 of the Labour Relations Act. The respondents themselves treated the matter as a collective issue and referred it to the Health Chamber, which is considered a Bargaining Council. The court rejected the respondents' argument that section 74 applies only to collective disputes and found no evidence that the proceedings in the Health Chamber had been abandoned....

Court Disposition

Application granted. Urgent interdictory relief awarded to applicants pending the outcome of section 74 proceedings.

Orders

  • The first respondent may not unilaterally change the terms and conditions of employment of the second to seventh applicants by requiring them to work according to a roster system until the dispute has been determined in terms of section 74 of the Labour Relations Act 1995.
  • The first and second respondents are interdicted from suspending the applicants without pay or requiring them to take unpaid leave because of their refusal to work according to the roster system pending the outcome of section 74 proceedings.