Home / Masterclasses / HR and labour law / Labour and Employee Relations: Discipline and Grievances Done Right (3-hour online masterclass)
Quick Look Course Summary:Labour and Employee Relations: Discipline and Grievances Done Right (3-hour online masterclass)
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Next Public Course Date:
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Length: 1 day(s)
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Price (at your venue): 1 Person R 8,159 EX VAT 3 Person R 5,295 EX VAT 10 Person R 3,794 EX VAT
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Certification Type:Non-Accredited
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Locations & Venues: Live online on Zoom or Microsoft Teams - for one person or a whole organisation, anywhere in South Africa.
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Training Advice
Labour and Employee Relations: Discipline and Grievances Done Right (3-hour online masterclass)
Walk into your next disciplinary or grievance meeting knowing what the law expects, what your own procedure requires and what to write down – so the outcome holds if it is ever tested at the CCMA.
Most unfair-dismissal awards are not about a bad employee being kept on. They are about a sound decision made badly: a vague charge, a warning nobody recorded, a grievance that sat in a drawer until the employee referred it. This labour relations masterclass gives line managers, supervisors and HR officers three focused hours on the two processes that cause most of the trouble – discipline and grievances – handled the way South African law and good practice expect.
The session is a concentrated cut of BOTI's full-day labour law and disciplinary hearing courses. It opens with the ground rules – the Labour Relations Act, the Basic Conditions of Employment Act and the Code of Good Practice: Dismissal – and then works through the decisions a manager actually faces: is this misconduct or poor performance, which warning fits, when to investigate, how to word a charge, what a fair hearing looks like, and what to do when a grievance lands on your desk. Short case discussions drawn from South African workplaces and on-screen exercises run through every module.
Delegates leave with a PDF workbook, warning and grievance templates and a personal action list for their own team. The content is general guidance on South African labour law, not legal advice, and when the session runs privately it is aligned to your own disciplinary and grievance procedures.
Why this course
For your organisation
- Discipline that is consistent across managers, shifts and sites
- Fewer disputes that reach the CCMA or a bargaining council, and a stronger position when one does
- Grievances dealt with early, before they turn into resignations or referrals
- Warnings, notices and outcomes recorded in a way that stands up when tested
- A whole management layer trained in one morning instead of a full day away from the floor
For your delegates
- A plain-language map of the LRA, the BCEA and the Code of Good Practice: Dismissal as they apply to everyday decisions
- A simple test for choosing between the misconduct, incapacity and operational-requirements routes
- Templates for a written warning, a notice of hearing and a grievance record
- Confidence to run a hearing or a grievance meeting without waiting for HR to script it
- A personal action list for the first week back at work
What delegates will be able to do
- Explain the difference between substantive and procedural fairness, and why a dismissal needs both
- Decide whether a problem is misconduct, poor performance or ill health, and follow the matching route
- Apply progressive discipline: when counselling, a verbal warning, a written warning or a final written warning is the right step
- Investigate an incident and word a charge and a notice of hearing that the employee can understand and answer
- Run a fair hearing, or prepare properly for one, whether you initiate it or chair it
- Decide on a sanction that is consistent with how similar cases were treated before
- Handle a grievance step by step, from receipt to written feedback, within your procedure's time limits
- Keep records that show the process was fair if the matter is referred to the CCMA
Who should attend
Line managers, supervisors and team leaders who issue warnings, sit in hearings or receive grievances; HR officers and administrators who support them; and shop stewards and employee representatives who want to understand the process from the other side of the table. No legal background is needed – the law is explained in plain language and tied to everyday situations.
Course outline
Live session – Discipline and grievances under South African labour law
Opening: the ground rules of fair discipline
- Welcome, the three hours ahead and a quick poll: what goes wrong in your workplace
- The legal framework in plain language: the LRA, the BCEA and the Code of Good Practice: Dismissal
- Substantive fairness and procedural fairness – a fair reason and a fair process
- What the CCMA looks at when a dismissal or an unfair labour practice is challenged
- Where your own disciplinary code and grievance procedure fit in
Warnings and the right route
- Sorting a problem into misconduct, incapacity or operational requirements
- Progressive discipline: counselling, verbal, written and final written warnings
- Consistency: treating like cases alike, and what happens when managers do not
- Case discussion: the habitual latecomer, the missing stock and the manager who waited too long
- Exercise: choose the route and the step for three short scenarios in the workbook
Investigating, charging and the hearing
- A short investigation: what to collect, whom to speak to and when precautionary suspension is justified
- Wording a charge and a notice of hearing that say what happened, when, and which rule was broken
- The hearing: roles, the employee's rights, evidence and the order of events
- Finding, mitigation and sanction – keeping the three decisions separate
- Exercise: repair a flawed charge sheet on screen
Grievances done right, and your action list
- What a grievance is, and why an unanswered grievance becomes a CCMA referral
- A step-by-step grievance process: receive, record, meet, investigate, respond, appeal
- Grievances against a manager, group grievances and harassment complaints
- Case discussion: the grievance that was ignored for six weeks
- Exercise: draft the written response to a grievance
- Records that protect both sides, and a personal action list: three things to change in your team this week
How it is delivered
Live online on Zoom (or Microsoft Teams if your organisation prefers it), 2.5 to 3 hours – typically 09:00-12:00, or a time that suits the team. From 1 to 500 delegates. Handouts are electronic: a PDF workbook, templates for a written warning, a notice of hearing and a grievance record, and a one-page summary, all sent before the session. Book seats on a public session, or run it privately for your organisation on a date of your choice using your own disciplinary code, grievance procedure and cases.
What our clients say
“We have been very impressed with their service and rollout of the training.”
“Throughout both interventions, BOTI demonstrated a high level of professionalism, subject matter expertise, and commitment to quality training delivery. Their ability to effectively manage virtual learning environments and engage participants contributed significantly to the success of the programmes.”
“The facilitator was excellent and took time to ensure that the employee understood the content and was able to apply the learning in order to develop the portfolio of evidence.”
Frequently asked questions
How many people can join?
From 1 to 500 delegates on Zoom. Polls, chat questions and short workbook exercises keep a large group involved; a smaller group gets more time on its own cases.
Do we get handouts?
Yes, electronically. Before the session every delegate receives a PDF workbook, the warning, notice-of-hearing and grievance templates used in the exercises, and a one-page summary to keep at hand.
Can we run it privately for our team?
Yes. Choose a date, and send us your disciplinary code and grievance procedure beforehand so the examples, templates and case discussions follow the process your managers actually use.
Does it replace a full disciplinary hearing course?
No. It gives managers the essentials of fair discipline and grievance handling in three hours. Managers who will chair hearings regularly should follow it with Effective Disciplinary Hearing Training or the Chairing Disciplinary Hearings Course, both of which include a full mock hearing.
Is this legal advice?
No. The session explains South African labour law and good practice in plain language and shows how to apply it day to day. For a specific dispute, speak to your HR department, your employers' organisation or a labour lawyer.
Is it accredited?
No. It is a non-accredited masterclass and delegates receive a BOTI certificate of attendance by email. For a credit-bearing route ask us about BOTI's QCTO skills programmes.