Synopsis:
Application for leave to appeal against a judgment of the Labour Court which dismissed an application to review a Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration award in favour of an employee. The employer contended that the CCMA and the Labour Courts misconceived the jurisdictional prerequisites for constructive dismissal, since on the employee's own version he had a choice whether to resign or be subjected to poor performance procedures. The Court held that it should not intervene, since the employer's submission misconstrued the test for constructive dismissal: this does not require that the employee have no choice but to resign, but only that the employer should have made continued employment intolerable. The Court however drew attention to the long delays that had beset the case in the labour courts and to the fact that neither the Labour Court nor the Labour Appeal Court had given the employer reasons for the adverse decision. It pointed out that a reasoned judgment is essential to the appeal process. Failure to provide one when requested cuts across the employer's right of access to courts. The application for leave to appeal was dismissed
