A Guide To The Labour Relations Act

It had been expected that the impact of the Superior Courts Bill - more particularly, the proposed merger of the Labour Court with the High Court and of the Labour Appeal Court with the Supreme Court of Appeal - on the dispute resolution system created by the Labour Relations Act would form a major focus of the revisions to this edition of Labour Relations Law. In the event, at the eleventh hour the Bill was again referred back for further consideration and, at the time of going to print, its final version is still being awaited. However, the most important changes proposed by the existing version of the Bill are included in the chapter on dispute resolution. Should these be implemented, it is hoped that the chapter will provide a concise but serviceable introduction to the new regime of labour litigation in the High Court as well as a guide to the existing system. In the area of substantive law developments have continued apace, fuelled by a number of important and sometimes controversial court decisions. Possibly the most important has been the continued evolution of common law rights and remedies alongside their statutory counterparts. This trend is in marked contrast to the position in the United Kingdom, the source of so much of our individual employment law, where the statutory regime is seen more clearly as having, in principle, superseded the common law regime. Although the phenomenon has thus far manifested itself most clearly in the area of termination of employment, there is no reason why contractual rights should not be asserted in competition with other statutory rights which do not abolish them expressly or by clear implication.