Monthly Archives: April 2023

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Overtime: The Importance of Agreements

“…an employer may not require or permit an employee to work … overtime except in accordance with an agreement” (Basic Conditions of Employment Act) All employers and employees need to know of a recent Labour Court judgment holding that an instruction to work overtime in the absence of an agreement is unlawful. A lapsed overtime agreement makes dismissal unfair A company’s Site Manager instructed four employees to work overtime to meet production targets but they refused, citing safety issues on the day in

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Losing Your Property to Acquisitive Prescription

“… a person shall by prescription become the owner of a thing which he has possessed openly and as if he were the owner thereof for an uninterrupted period of 30 years or for a period which, together with any periods for which such thing was so possessed by his predecessors in title, constitutes an uninterrupted period of 30 years.” (Prescription Act) Here’s another warning to be vigilant when it comes to someone else occupying any part of your property for

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Trustees: Your New Duty to Report Beneficial Owners

“National Treasury, therefore, expects that if South Africa continues to make significant improvements in effectiveness and swiftly exits grey listing, it will have a limited impact on financial stability and costs of doing business with South Africa, particularly if South Africa moves speedily to get out of grey listing.” (National Treasury) South Africa’s grey listing by the Financial Action Task Force, the global financial watchdog, has led government to hurriedly introduce new “Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorism Financing” measures to combat

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Divorce: Remember to Review Your Will!

“It has long been a foundational principle of our common law and the legislation that has governed the law of testamentary succession that a will, properly executed, is the document that authoritatively reflects the genuine and voluntary dispositions of a testatrix.” (Extract from judgment below) Most people when making wills and estate plans will lean toward leaving all or most of their estate to a spouse in one form or another. But if things fall apart and divorce looms it is easy

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