Dispute resolution

We support our clients by appearing in all employment-related forums including the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), Statutory Councils, Labour Court, Labour Appeal Court, High Court, Supreme Court of Appeal and Constitutional Court. We also assist our clients with private arbitrations. We represent our clients in their dealings with the Department of Labour.

Our expertise extends to advising and representing clients in the following disputes:

• Unfair dismissals
• Unfair labour practices
• Organisational rights
• Collective agreements
• Lock-outs
• Strikes
• Alleged non-compliance with the Employment Equity Act (EEA)
• Unfair discrimination
• Non-payment of wages, overtime, leave and severance pay

Consulting

We advise clients and give opinions on a wide range of non-litigious employment law matters and commercial matters with employment law implications. 

We undertake the following:

• Corporate restructuring exercises 
• Offer a step-by-step guide on the retrenchment process
• Manage the restructuring process
• Draft all notices and documentation
• Consult with trade unions, employees and their representatives
• Scrutinise minutes from consultation meetings
• Advise on selection criteria
• Formulate severance packages
• Draft retrenchment agreements
• Represent clients at CCMA or bargaining council facilitation meetings
  
  
• Disciplinary proceedings
• Draft notices of disciplinary hearings
• Assist in preparing for disciplinary hearings
• Represent our clients at hearings, when permissible
  
  
• Performance management issues
• Manage poor performers
• Introduce performance management systems and employee grading systems
  
  
• Transfer of a business as a going concern
• Valuation and apportionment of liability
• Restructuring of a joint venture, merged entity or service provider following transfer
  
  
• The impact of a merger on employees 
• Assist in the consultative process with employees and their representatives
• Prepare the necessary impact reports and documentation to support a merger filing with the Competition Commission
  
  
• We advise clients of their obligations under the following Acts
• Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA): Annual leave, leave pay, sick leave and overtime
• EEA: How to draft an employment equity plan and report
• Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act: Reporting obligations in cases of injuries on duty
• Employment Services Act
• Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA)

Industry Expertise

Our Employment team works extensively in an ever-expanding list of industries including:

• Aviation
• Banking
• Catering and hospitality 
• Cellular services
• Chemical
• Financial services
• Insurance
• Luxury goods
• Mining
• Media and telecommunications
• Pharmaceutical
• Petroleum
• Retail
• Transport
• State-owned enterprises
• Government departments

Training

To help guide clients through the intricacies of employment law, we present seminars and run customised training sessions and workshops on a range of issues, including how to run disciplinary hearings and how to prepare for and run arbitrations.

We develop compliance checklists that are designed to help companies avoid or minimise costly employment disputes.

We keep clients informed on proposed legislation and regulations affecting aspects of the employment relationship, and support clients with webinars, seminars, conferences and specialist newsletters and email alerts.

Drafting

We draft a wide range of agreements, reports, policies, guidelines and procedures including:

• Contracts of employment for executives, managers, permanent employees and employees employed for a fixed term or specific task
• Collective agreements at all bargaining levels
• Severance and settlement agreements
• Restraints of trade and confidentiality agreements
• Agreements contemplated by s197 of the Labour Relations Act (LRA)
• Valuation and apportionment agreements in relation to transfers of businesses, undertakings or services
• Temporary employment services agreements
• Training agreements
• Independent contractor agreements 
• Disciplinary and grievance regulations and procedures, warnings and dismissal notices
• Lock-out notices and ultimata
• Codes on sexual harassment, retrenchment, picketing, social networking and various others

Alternative dispute resolution and collective bargaining

We chair various hearings on behalf of our clients, including grievance, disciplinary and appeal hearings. We also mediate employment disputes and assist in collective bargaining.

Public law

We advise on the Constitution and the influence it has on the operations of both public and private organisations and corporations. We advise government departments and state-owned entities on wide-ranging legislation.

Auditing

We undertake statutory or collective agreement compliance audits, including assessing whether the client’s terms and conditions of employment comply with the BCEA, a collective agreement, an arbitration award or Labour Court ruling.

Occupational health and safety

In terms of the OHSA, we conduct accident investigations and represent clients in serious incident and fatality inquiries. We also conduct legal compliance audits and advise on health and safety policies and procedures.

Due diligence

We undertake employment law due diligences in relation to the transfer of a business, undertaking and service as a going concern, or the purchase of shares. The results of this process form the basis of the warranties and valuation and apportionment agreements required under s197 of the LRA.

Corporate immigration

We assist international and South African companies with the immigration requirements associated with the import of foreign skills and relocation of expatriates and their families. 

Our services include:

• General work permits
• Intra-company transfer work permits
• Special skills work permits
• Section 11(2) business visitors’ visas
• Quota work permits
• Visa applications for spouses and dependent children
• Study permits
• Permanent residence applications
• Temporary residence status within the borders of South Africa

We assist with legal queries regarding immigration-related issues; especially the current requirements of the Department of Home Affairs.

Employee benefits

We assist public officers and other representative taxpayers with the onerous obligations of related tax provisions including:

• The application of pay-as-you-earn to independent contractors and fringe benefits
• Share schemes
• Other benefits employers must provide

We help clients to identify potential non-compliance and to restructure employment benefits (including share incentive schemes) to improve tax efficiency. 

We assist with pension and provident funds and retirement benefits.

The Companies Act

The Companies Act, which came into effect on 1 May 2011, has a significant impact on employment relationships. From an employment law perspective, our team of experts can:

• Advise on the impact of the Act on:
• Policies
• Processes
• Employment agreements
• Collective relationships and agreements
• Conduct audit compliance with the Act
• Redraft policies, processes and agreements to ensure compliance with the Act
• Provide training on clients’ responsibilities under the Act

Some of the more significant areas in which the Act impacts on employment relationships are:

• Removal of directors
• Extended director, prescribed officer and committee member liabilities
• Indemnities and insurance for directors, prescribed officers and committee members
• Whistle-blower protections
• Employee, board and statutory committees
• Share incentive schemes
• Mandatory notices to employees and unions
• Retrenchments during business rescue processes
• Extended union rights (eg access to sensitive financial information)

• Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr is representing the City of Cape Town, one of South Africa’s largest metropolitan municipalities and an important repeat client of the firm across practice areas. Our employment law team has been appointed as the lead attorney in advising on the alleged fraud perpetrated against the City by employees of services providers involved in the City's MyCiti public transport system.  Our strategic and legal counsel focuses on possible breaches of the Municipal Finance Management Act as read with all applicable local government legislation and by-laws, including an action for damages.   
  
  
• Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr is representing Sibanye, the largest individual producer of gold from South Africa and one of the 10 largest gold producers globally. Our employment team advised this client in the Constitutional Court matter of Sibanye/M Bester. The case related to an assessment of racism in the workplace and, more particularly, deals with the question of direct and indirect racism. This dispute is not about defamation or injuria, but rather it focuses on statements which are actually racist or perceived to be racist in the workplace and which have the potential of causing divisions between workers and disrupting workplace harmony. The Constitutional Court found with Sibanye and held that the dismissal of the employee was an appropriate sanction as racism is often covert and not overt and must be accessed in the context of the history of Apartheid. 
  
  
• Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr has represented ArcelorMittal South Africa Limited (AMSA), a company part of the globally renowned steel conglomerate, on a number of employee restructuring exercises at its various operations based in Vanderbijlpark and in Vereeniging. We have assisted AMSA during the entire Section 189 process; the development of voluntary separation packages; and the retrenchment of employees. We have also led work for this client in its dealings with the majority unions flowing from the restructurings. We continue to advise AMSA in the implementation of the ensuing cost reduction process.
  
  
• Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr is representing Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, a massive mixed-used development which comprises of both residential and commercial developments and attracts more than 23 million visitors per year. Our employment law team led work in a major investigation into an alleged fraud committed by a Senior Executive employed by SAW, and the employee’s subsequent termination. Following the completion of the investigation, legal action for the recovery of damages has been instituted against the Senior Executive.
  
  
• Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr continues to represent Anglo Platinum, a leading platinum group metals miner with operations at the Rustenburg Platinum Mine. Our employment team has been leading work for this client in proceedings before the Labour Appeal Court involving the use of racist and derogatory language in the workplace.
  
  
• Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr continues to advise and represent various divisions of Imperial Logistics South Africa Group Proprietary Limited, one of the largest logistics groups in South Africa. Our team has been the lead lawyers in various matters before the Constitutional Court, Labour Appeal Court as well as the Labour Court. Our employment Team at Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr continues to be the lead attorneys to the Road Freight Association, an employer's organisation which is a party to the National Bargaining Council for the Road Freight and Logistics Industry. We continue to represent and advise the Road Freight Association in various employment related matters.
  
  
• Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr is representing Imperial Logistics South Africa Group (Pty) Ltd (The Second Respondent in the matter) in an appeal that is pending before the Constitutional Court. The matter pertains to the interpretation of s187(1)(c) of the Labour Relations Act where an employer has retrenched employees based on its operational requirements, following a refusal by employees to accept a change in terms and conditions of employment, as an alternative to retrenchment. The matter has significant value for employers in the retrenchment arena where an employer seeks to avoid retrenchments by amending terms and conditions of employment due to a genuine operational requirement. The Labour Court and Labour Appeal court confirmed that an employer is entitled to retrench employees where the dominant or proximate cause of the retrenchments is not the failure by employees to accept an employer's demand in relation to a matter of mutual interest, but where the dominant or proximate cause of the retrenchments is a genuine operational requirement. The matter has significant impact for the bargaining relationship between employers and employees.
  
  
• Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr have advised and continues to advise Uber B.V., a legal entity resident in the Netherlands; and Uber South Africa Technology Services (Pty) Ltd, a legal entity resident in South Africa, regarding Uber B.V.'s smartphone application ("the Uber App") that connects independent operators with riders in South Africa.  Our employment team has been leading work for these clients regarding the status of partner-drivers and drivers in South Africa.  This includes advising on whether partner-drivers and drivers may be found to be employees under South African employment law.  We were successful in obtaining a ground-breaking judgment before the Labour Court that the affected partner-drivers and drivers are not employees of Uber SA.  We have also advised on the partner-drivers’ and drivers’ endeavours to unionise and the organisation's strategy and response to unionisation as well as other employee-related issues in South Africa. Seven drivers and their unions referred alleged unfair dismissal disputes to arbitration under the auspices of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), alleging that Uber SA was their employer.  Uber SA disputed this claim in an important test case.  In July 2017, the CCMA ruled in favour of the partner-drivers and drivers, finding that they were the employees of Uber SA.  Uber SA made an application to the Labour Court, which reviewed and set aside the CCMA's ruling, finding that the affected partner-drivers and drivers were not employees of Uber SA.  Drivers have since referred alleged unfair dismissal disputes against Netherlands-based Uber B.V., which we represented in disputes which examined the drivers’ relationship with Uber B.V. (as opposed to Uber SA).  The status of Uber B.V.'s partner-drivers and drivers has received significant attention in the media globally and has been challenged in countries around the world.  We were successful in defending the claim before the CCMA.  The Labour Relations Act, 1995 was found not to apply and accordingly, the CCMA had no jurisdiction in relation to Uber B.V.  Both this CCMA ruling and the judgment of the Labour Court are critical to Uber’s continued operation in South Africa
  
  
• Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr is providing strategic advice to Sibanye Stillwater, the largest individual producer of gold from South Africa and one of the 10 largest gold producers globally, in respect of their wage dispute with union, AMCU at Sibanye Gold. We represented Sibanye Gold at the Labour Court on a challenge by AMCU to have the extension of the wage agreement set aside on an application of the principle of legality. This important aspect of the dispute is destined for the Constitutional Court.
  
  
• Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr represented the South African Broadcasting Corporation, the official broadcaster of South Africa.  Our employment team brought an application on behalf of SABC before the Labour Court to have various irregular appointments set aside that had been made over a number of years during the leadership of its former Chief Operations Officer, Mr Motsoneng.  This matter is important given the political landscape and a need to address irregularities occurring under previous regimes.  The application to have the appointments set aside was the first of its kind in South Africa.  There were circa 10 advocates (2 seniors) and 13 sets of attorneys involved.  The setting aside of appointments within the legislative framework of our Constitution as well as the PFMA (Public Finance Management Act) and The Broadcasting Act is complicated.  Given several changes of the Board of SABC over many years, some appointments also dated back to more than five years ago.  The lateness of the referral itself became problematic.  The cumulative effect of the application has a ZAR multi-million impact on the respective parties.    The matter was unsuccessful on technical grounds, such as the interpretation of legislation, however it provided important insight into how the broadcaster should deal with these appointments and future appointments.  Here we demonstrate how high-profile clients in South Africa turn to our team to advise on complex and first-in-kind employment law matters, here in a contentious context.  Our work on this matter also demonstrates our expertise advising clients in matters linked to the alleged misconduct of senior executives.
  
  
• Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr is the on-going South African employment law counsel to Uber B.V., the Netherlands-based subsidiary; and Uber SA, the South Africa-based subsidiary of Uber, the US-based app platform that connects independent transport operators with riders.  Our employment team continues to advise this client on all of its South African employment law issues.  Most notably, this saw our team lead work regarding the status of partner-drivers and drivers in South Africa.  This included advising on whether drivers may be found to be employees under South African employment law.  We were successful in obtaining a ground-breaking judgment before the Labour Court that partner-drivers and drivers are not employees of Uber SA.  We have also advised on the partner-drivers’ and drivers’ endeavours to unionise and the organisation's strategy and response to unionisation as well as other employee-related issues in South Africa.  Seven drivers and their unions referred alleged unfair dismissal disputes to arbitration under the auspices of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), alleging that Uber SA was their employer.  Uber SA disputed this claim in an important test case.  In July 2017, the CCMA ruled in favour of the partner-drivers and drivers, finding that they were the employees of Uber SA.  Uber SA made an application to the Labour Court, which reviewed and set aside the CCMA's finding, finding that partner-drivers and drivers were not employees of Uber SA in a judgment which determines the status of all 10,000-plus partner-drivers and drivers in South Africa.  Drivers have since referred alleged unfair dismissal disputes against Netherlands-based Uber B.V., which we represented in disputes which examined the drivers’ relationship with Uber B.V. (as opposed to Uber SA).  The status of Uber B.V.'s partner-drivers and drivers has received significant attention in the media globally and has been challenged in countries around the world.  We were successful in defending the claim before the CCMA and Uber B.V. was found not to be the employer of partner-drivers and drivers using the Uber app in South Africa.  Both this ruling and the judgment of the Labour Court are critical to Uber’s continued operation in South Africa.  The fact our team was called to advise on this matter is confirmation of our Band One-level skills and expertise including in connection with the so-called, gig economy.  While this issue has received considerable attention in overseas jurisdictions, it is novel in South Africa.  The matters are exceptional given their legal complexity, novel nature and the issues at stake.
  
  
• Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr successfully represented Nampak, the South Africa-based packaging company.  Our employment team advised Nampak in respect of a Labour Court trial.  This demanding case initially involved 2,230 employees who disputed the capping of employer contributions to the post-retirement medical aid benefits (PRMAs) on the grounds that Nampak had acted unlawfully and had committed an unfair Labour Practice.  The Labour Court found in Nampak's favour but the employees have taken the matter on appeal to the Labour Court.  A date for the hearing of the matter is awaited.  The liability to Nampak is circa ZAR 348 million-plus.  The issues in this case hinge on the exercise of an employer's discretion to alter PRMA contributions and the extent of the employer's obligations to consult prior to and post such implementation.  This is a major employment law dispute which confirms our leading role on the headline employment cases which shape employment law and practice in South Africa.
  
  
• Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr represented Dischem Pharmacies, the leading South Africa-based operator of a chain of 163 pharmacy stores employing circa 18,000 employees.  Our employment team advised Dischem Pharmacies in bringing an application to the Labour Court to have the right to picketing by its employees suspended during a protected strike.  Our client suffered ZAR multi-million damages as a direct result of the picketing.  This was a highly complex matter, dealing with picketing rules and an application for urgent relief pending the finalisation of the dispute in terms of s69(8) of the LRA.  The application was preceded by one urgent application and ultimately culminated in two reportable judgments.  The right to strike and picketing are fundamental rights enshrined in the South African Constitution and protected in our employment legislation.  To suspend picketing of employees was a potential infringement of such rights and this was the first application of its kind in South Africa.
  
  
• Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr represented Shoprite Checkers, a division of the largest retailer on the African continent.  Our employment team assisted Shoprite Checkers in setting new precedent in the Labour Appeal Court regarding restraint of trade.  That a client of the calibre of Shoprite Checkers repeatedly chooses our employment experts as its lead counsel demonstrates our standing in South Africa's employment law landscape.
  
  
• Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr is representing Sibanye Stillwater, the largest individual producer of gold from South Africa and one of 10 largest gold producers globally.  Our employment team is providing strategic advice for Sibanye Stillwater in respect of a wage dispute and threatened sympathy strike with the union, AMCU, at Sibanye Gold.  The Labour Court ruled against AMCU and interdicted the sympathy strike at that time.  AMCU has taken the matter to the Labour Appeal Court and we await the set down date. We represented Sibanye Gold at the Labour Court on a challenge by AMCU to have the extension of the wage agreement set aside on an application of the principle of legality.  This important aspect of the dispute is destined for the Constitutional Court.Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr represented Calgan Lounge, the leading South Africa-based luxury furniture manufacturer.  Our employment team advised Calgan Lounge regarding an unprotected strike.  The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), a political party interfering in the strike, undermined the dispute resolution mechanisms in LRA 1995.  The political nature of the demands made were unlawful and rendered the strike unprotected.  The EFF became increasingly involved in labour disputes in the larger South African landscape.  Such involvement caused a concern for employers nationwide insofar as labour issues were not necessary the centre of the disputes, and ulterior motives drove alleged disputes between employers and employees.  Accordingly, it was important to set a scheme for our client where only institutions catered for in terms of our LRA, such as unions, would be allowed to enter into the arena of labour disputes, and not political parties.  In this matter, the EFF became involved in the employment dispute between our client and its employees.  Accordingly, our team brought an application in the Labour Court to stop the EFF's interference and involvement in the dispute.  We were successful in that regard.  The South African Constitution protects the right to freedom of association and hence the application potentially infringed on such right of the EFF to involve itself in labour disputes.  This matter has significant political consequences for the EFF and for employers in general in South Africa, confirming the key role that our team plays in disputes of broader national significance, the year-round.
  
  
• Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr represented Chromaflo Technologies South Africa (Pty) Ltd, the leading US-based independent global supplier of colorant systems, chemical and pigment dispersions with production facilities in the US, Canada, Netherlands, Finland, Australia, China, India, Malaysia, Mexico and South Africa.  Our team advised and negotiated on behalf of this client regarding its ZAR 60 million-plus purchase of Rolfes Colour Pigments International (RCPI) of South Africa, including two businesses in the pigment and liquid colourant industry as going concern, involving the transfer and integration of employees over a phased period of time.  The acquisition of RCPI generates exciting opportunities for Chromaflo, expanding its product portfolio and its footprint in South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa.  Our team advised on both the employment and health and safety side of the transactions.  This matter demonstrates how global leaders seek our employment law experts to lead work on complex matters at the intersection of employment relations and health and safety.
  
  
• Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr represented Lebashe Investment Group Pty Ltd (Lebashe); and Tiso Blackstar Group SE (Tiso Blackstar), the South Africa-based black-owned investment vehicle with a variety of interests within the technology and financial sectors; and Tiso Blackstar, the South Africa-based global company with its roots in Africa, operating market-leading media, broadcast and retail marketing properties with a broad footprint across Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria.  Our employment team represented Lebashe and Tiso Blackstar on a Chinese wall basis in respect of Lebashe's acquisition of Tiso Blackstar's South African media, broadcasting and content businesses and media, broadcasting and content businesses in Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya.  The businesses include, amongst others, some of the largest newspapers in South Africa such as the Sunday Times, Business Day and the Sowetan.  Our team advised on the structuring of the transaction, conducted a due diligence into the relevant assets and drafted and negotiated all of the legal transaction agreements.  This transaction was concluded under immense time pressure, with the due diligence and sale agreements in respect of the South African media, broadcasting and content businesses and media, broadcasting and content businesses in Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya being drafted, negotiated and signed within a period of two months.
  
  
• Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr is representing Unitrans Supply Chain Solutions (Pty) Ltd, the leading South Africa-based diversified supply chain company that has been serving the needs of select Sub-Saharan African markets for over 50 years.  Our employment team is advising Unitrans on an adverse finding by the Constitutional Court, ordering reinstatement of approximately 100 drivers retrospectively.  The cost implications are enormous for this company, especially given that they operate within the Steinhoff Group.  The cost implication of the Court Order is approximately ZAR 98 million.   We advised the Company to set off the earnings of the employees for the period from the date of dismissal until date of the Constitutional Court matter from the monies due in terms of the retrospective Order for payment of salaries.  Our work on this matter offers clear proof of how our team is mandated to lead work on a broad range of high-stakes, high-value employment law matters for industry-leading clients in South Africa. Our approach in this matter was, inter alia, that:
  • The Company will comply with the Court Order;
  • For the interim period, i.e. from the date of dismissal until date of the order of the Constitutional Court, earnings of employees should be set off against monies due by the Company.

Practice Area Rankings

• Chambers Global 2014–2021 ranked our Employment practice in Band 2 for employment.
• The Legal 500 EMEA 2020-2021 ranked our Employment practice in Tier 1 for employment law. From 2009–2019 our Employment practice was ranked in Tier 2.

Ranked Practitioners

• Aadil Patel is the National Practice Head of the Employment team. Chambers Global 2015–2021 ranked him in Band 2 for employment. The Legal 500 EMEA 2021 ranked Aadil as a leading individual for employment. In 2012–2020 he was recommended for employment. He was named as the exclusive South African winner of the ILO Client Choice Awards 2014 in the employment & benefits category. Who’s Who Legal 2017–2018 identified Aadil as a leading labour & employment practitioner. He was identified in The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers 2014, and in The International Who’s Who of Management Labour and Employment 2011–2014.
  
  
• Chambers Global 2020-2021 ranked Gillian Lumb in Band 3 and from 2017–2019 ranked her in Band 4 for employment. The Legal 500 EMEA 2012–2014, 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2021 recommended her for employment.
  
  
• Chambers Global 2014–2021 ranked Hugo Pienaar in Band 2 for employment. The Legal 500 EMEA 2014–2021 recommended him for employment. He was named as the exclusive South African winner of the ILO Client Choice Awards 2017 and 2019 in the employment & benefits category.
  
  
• Chambers Global 2018-2021 ranked Fiona Leppan in Band 2 for employment. Chambers Global 2016–2017 ranked her in Band 3 for employment. The Legal 500 EMEA 2019-2021 recommended Fiona as a leading individual for employment. The Legal 500 EMEA 2012–2018 recommended her for employment. IFLR1000 2012 recommended Fiona as a leading lawyer. Who’s Who Legal 2017–2018 identified her as a leading labour & employment practitioner. She was identified in The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers 2014, and in The International Who’s Who of Management Labour and Employment 2011–2018.
  
  
• Chambers Global 2020-2021 ranked Michael as up and coming for Employment. The Legal 500 EMEA 2020 recommended Michael for employment. ILO Client Choice Awards 2015-2016 named Michael Yeates the exclusive South African winner in the employment & benefits category. In 2018, he was named the exclusive South African winner in the immigration category.
  
  
• Chambers Global 2010 ranked Faan Coetzee as a leading lawyer in Employment and Labour. Who’s Who Legal - The International Who’s Who of Management Labour and Employment 2008 to 2013: Faan has been selected by clients and peers as being among the world’s leading Management Labour and Employment lawyers. Who's Who Legal - International Who's Who of Business Lawyers 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012 - 2013 lists Faan among the world's leading Management Labour and Employment lawyers. Practical Law Company Which Lawyer? 2008 – 2010 and 2012: Faan is endorsed, "with a practice emphasis on employment and labour law. Strong corporate client base providing advice on restructuring, collective bargaining, general employers' rights, pension funds and medical aid schemes." Legal 500 EMEA 2010 to 2016: Faan is recommended for "his insight, knowledge and promptness" in Labour and Employment Law. Expert Guides 2009 and 2011 rates Faan as a pre-eminent practitioner in Labour and Employment Law.
  
  
• Who’s Who Legal 2018 identified Mohsina Chenia as a leading labour & employment practitioner.
  
  
• The Legal 500 EMEA 2020-2021 recommended Jose Jorge for employment.
  
  
• Chambers Global 2014-2021 ranked Imraan Mahomed in Band 3 for employment. The Legal 500 EMEA 2013-2021 recommended him for employment.
  
  
• The Legal 500 EMEA 2021 recommended Anli Bezuidenhout for employment.