KZN MEC of Education v Pillay Case CCT 51/06
Nose studs - employers will be faced with new demands to accommodate religious and cultural diversity matters in the workplace.

Chief Justice Langa held that the rule prohibiting the wearing of jewellery had the potential for indirect discrimination because it allowed certain groups of learners to express their religious and cultural identity freely, while denying that right to others. The evidence before the Court showed that the wearing of a nose stud was a voluntary practice that formed part of Sunali Pillay's South Indian Tamil Hindu culture, which itself was inseparably intertwined with Hindu religion. He emphasised that both obligatory and voluntary practices qualified for protection under the Equality Act. The school had therefore interfered with Sunali Pillay's religion and culture. As that burden was not imposed on others, the school's interference amounted to discrimination against Sunali Pillay. What was relevant was not whether the practice was characterised as religious or cultural, but the importance it held for the individual in question. Nor was it sufficient to state that Sunali Pillay could attend another school. Our Constitution requires the community to affirm and reasonably accommodate difference, not merely to tolerate it as a last resort. To read more on this Constitutional Court judgment, click here.

We would like to invite all our readers to take part in our current Refer a Colleague Campaign ...and get a free electronic copy of the following templates:-

 

• Pro forma performance contract for employment equity manager
• Disciplinary hearing guidelines & fair decision guides
• Resource pack for Talent Management
• Toolkit for workplace substance abuse

Workinfo offers two NEW exceptional courses for the HR practitioner that will ensure that you stay ahead of the game.

Workforce and Succession Planning

• Do you have a workforce and succession plan for your organisation?
• Do you have people in your organization that are indispensable? Would losing them create a hole that would be hard to fill?
• Do you have enough skilled workers to meet the future requirements of your organisation?

If not , Workinfo can assist you by training your Workforce and Succession Planning Committee so that they can have the right people, across the organisation, in the right place at the right time. Succession planning is an important subset of workforce planning and ensures that you have the right leadership in place at every level of the organisation.

Developing a HR Business Strategy

 

• Can your organisation's internal capability meet the requirements of your organisation's business strategy?
• Have you identified what skills your organisation will require 10 years from now?

Don't let your HR department get left behind by the business. Start planning your own HR Business Strategy now!

In this course by Workinfo we cover:

1. A guide to strategic human resource planning
2. How to make your HR Strategy integral to the organisation
3. Form a strategic human resource planning model
4. Analysis
5. Setting the strategic direction
6. Designing the Human Resource Management System
7. Planning the total workforce
8. Generating the required human resources
9. Investing in human resource development and performance

To book your team on either of these important courses - please contact Shani Cullabine.

Courses and workshops currently run by Workinfo.com:

• HR Business Strategy
• Workforce and Succession Planning
• Employment Equity Committee Training
• Wage Negotiation Management Support
• Workplace Communication
• Managing for Diversity
• Managing Employee Discipline and Dismissal
• Workplace Violence Prevention
• Industrial Relations

Courses and workshops soon to come:

• Interpersonal Skills - Transactional Analysis (2 days)
• Mentoring Skills
• Coaching Skills

Much of the debate regarding employee participation involves issues of power sharing in the workplace. Employers might feel that it restricts their managerial prerogative and flexibility in decision-making. Trade unions feel that it threatens to undermine trade unions by blurring the distinction between management and employee interests.

There is a misconception that once a Balanced Scorecard System has been built and implemented, there will be automatic transformation and buy-in. For the Balanced Scorecard to be successful and for change to occur, the scorecard must be embedded in the management systems.

If one looks at the ratio between the number of foreigners coming into South Africa for work purposes and the number of South African citizens who settle in other African countries for employment opportunities, the scale is far from balanced.

Coaching is an extraordinary profession in that the sole purpose is to support someone in achieving what they want. Coaching is a "high touch" service business. While most coaches would agree with these statements as a general base for what they do, we will look at some of the distinctions between different forms of coaching.

Imagine the consequences of a parent treating their six-year-old and seventeen-year-old equally. That would mean telling the younger child, "Make sure you are home from grade one by midnight!" Most people appreciate that it makes sense to treat children fairly. It would, however, be a mistake to treat them all equally, and apply the same rules regardless of their ages. That's more than just a mistake; we might even call it immoral.

The subject of unemployment goes hand in hand with the very sensitive subject of Affirmative Action (AA) and Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) and where this is discussed it is not long before racial antagonism rears its ugly head.

Sponsored by Perrott Van Niekerk Woodhouse Inc. & Caselaw.co.za.

Tuesdays @ 20:45 Repeats on Thursdays @ 21:45 and Fridays @ 06:45.

The following programmes are now on the Caselaw.co.za and Workinfo.com websites available as webcasts:

• I nterview with Jimmy Manyi, Head of the Employment Equity Commission
• Sexual harassment and employment law. Simon Coleman interviews Marylyn Christianson (Associate Professor of Law)
• Who is an employee? - Simon Coleman interviews Rob Perrott of Perrott Van Niekerk Woodhouse Matyolo Inc
• Substance abuse in the workplace. Simon Coleman interviews Alexa Stafford (Organisational Health Specialist, SAB) and Adrie Vermeulen (Director: SANCA Johannesburg)
• Strike action and employment law. Simon Coleman interviews Duncan Innes, CEO of Innes Labour Briefs.

Employees are the main drivers of organisational values and culture. As the adage goes, a happy employee equals a happy customer. This has become a cliché but in many respects rings true.

So, here was someone who seemed to have everything going against her in the corporate landscape at the time - young, black, woman, technically inferior (was not an engineer) and eight months pregnant... Mokgosi says "He gave me an opportunity and for that I am eternally grateful because I wouldn't be here if I hadn't started there".

Discount applies for current subscribers to the Workinfo.com and Caselaw.co.za websites.

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Read more about the HR AFRICA AWARD

Global Leadership and Innovation for Sustainable Growth

Globalisation is continuing to dramatically change the workplace requiring a workforce that is flexible, diverse and open to change and the realities of the international market.

EQ: emotional intelligence for everyone
How do we know we are "emotionally intelligent"? What does it mean? And how do I become emotionally intelligent?
Read the review.

Teambuilding activities for South African organisations
The tips for the teamwork facilitators, which enable them to stay aware of various influences that might affect team members' participation to specific activities, are useful additions to each activity described.
Read the review.

Participate in the following Workinfo.com surveys for 2007/2008:

• HR practitioner salary survey
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Participate in the Survey on Workplace Violence (physical, verbal abuse, bullying/mobbing, sexual and racial harassment) in South Africa.

Examine the transitions that top executives make into and through organisations, and road blocks that can occur in the process, by taking this survey.

Marshall Goldsmith and Patricia Wheeler invite you to a Thought Leader Teleforum on Thursday September 27th at noon Eastern time (USA). Please join us for a discussion with Tony Schwartz, co-author of The Power of Full Engagement, on "Getting More From Your People," moderated by executive coach Patricia Wheeler.

What do HR professionals in South Africa discuss with their colleagues the world over?

Look up troublesome abbreviations:

• BBBEE - Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment
• COSATU - Congress of South African Trade Unions
• ECC - Employment Conditions Commission
• EEC - Employment Equity Committee
• FRIDGE - Fund for Research into Industrial Development, Growth and Equity

"Remember that no one can succeed on their own and a high level of EQ helps us make things happen."

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