South Africa

Overview:

Our team in South Africa is based in the Johannesburg area and covers all aspects of South African labor and employment law as well as all major business law disciplines including mergers & acquisitions, inward investment, mining, development and other areas critical to the South African economy.

The labor and employment law practice offers expert legal assistance and practical commercial advice including labor and employment law to a broad spectrum of clients.

Clients include a wide range of both listed and unlisted companies operating in a number of sectors of the economy, including agricultural, property, building and construction industry, manufacturing sector, the energy (oil, gas and renewable technologies) and mining sectors, as well as retail operations covering food and clothing, pharmaceutical products and franchise operations, property and the banking sector.

Labor and Employment Practice:

Employment relations are extensively regulated in South Africa through both positive legislation and collective agreements between employers and trade unions. Employment law plays a central role in the running of all businesses in South Africa, requiring careful application and consideration in most business decisions.

The labor and employment team focuses primarily on advising employers. Its experience includes collective employment law – including best practice dealing with strikes, work force reductions, employment related mergers and acquisition issues, drafting collective agreements between employers and trade union in respect of organizational rights and collective bargaining rights, board reorganization, outsourcing and employment equity / affirmative action compliance; Individual employment law – including drafting employment contracts, restraints of trade and confidentiality agreements, enforcing restraints and governance, advising on unfair labor practice, unfair dismissal and unfair discrimination claims, including sexual harassment, race discrimination, equal work for equal pay, compensation and commission claims, employee privacy, independent contractors, non-solicitation of employees, and policy, procedure and company handbook development. The team also covers all other aspects of general employment law and litigation as well as union work, strike actions and related labor disputes.

The Plus – Business Law Capacity:

Our team’s business law services includes the full range of practice areas comprising: corporate and commercial law – including mergers, acquisitions and takeovers; listings; schemes of arrangement; capital restructurings; corporate law; commercial litigation and arbitration; corporate governance; commercial law; labor and employment law; private equity and venture capital; technology and emerging industries; distributorship and agency law; economic empowerment; competition law, insolvency and business rescue proceedings; property and construction law; tax advice, banking and finance; project finance; environmental law; power and energy law; oil and gas law, both in South Africa and Africa generally; land use planning and zoning, environment law, water law, and all aspects of mining and natural resource law including regulation.

Key Facts:

• Location: Johannesburg
• Size: 4 Directors, 17 Associates
• Business Law Practice Areas: Banking & Finance, Competition Law, Corporate & Commercial Law, Employment Law, Environmental Health & Safety Law, Litigation and Disputes, Mergers & Acquisitions, Mining Law, Arbitration, Natural Resources & Energy Law, Tax.
• Languages: English, Afrikaans, Zulu

Listings/Rankings:

• Teams highly rated in Legal 500, ILFR and Chambers 2015 for various disciplines including for Corporate & Commercial, M&A, Energy & Natural resources and Mining among other disciplines.

Contact: southafrica@laborlawplus.com