By Mitch Marecia
… Otherwise you could pay through your nose at the CCMA
In South Africa, there is an average of 800 employee versus employer cases a day at the CCMA. Of these, at least half are won by the aggrieved employee. The CCMA can award up to 12 months of an employees’ salary if you’re on the wrong side of, for example, an unfair dismissal case. It’s clear that if you don’t have insurance cover for your business – such as an employment practices liability policy – you’re leaving yourself at risk.
Employment practices liability vs employers’ liability: what’s the difference?
A sure way to remember the difference is that employment practices liability covers claims arising out of unfair labour practices, while employer’s liability is applicable to injury to employees at work:
COID has eliminated the employee’s common law right to sue the employer for injury, which results from an accident. There are still, however, instances where the employer may be sued. For example:
COID only covers injuries resulting from an accident but the injury could’ve resulted from a wilful act.
There is a further extension which generally comes with employer’s liability, i.e. the employee-to-employee extension. This provides cover for claims made by one employee against another arising out of events which occurred during the course of employment.