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CCMA Statement: Provided by
the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA)
It
has become so common to see vulnerable workers who seek the assistance of
the CCMA being escorted into
127 Fox Street (Cnr. Eloff), Johannesburg
by unscrupulous operators
claiming to be lawyers or, worse still, CCMA employees, that this seems to
be an accepted or normal state of affairs.
The
Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) was
established to provide the country with an accessible, user-friendly and,
above all, inexpensive labour dispute resolution system. Workers who
have allegedly been unfairly dismissed or the victims of various unfair
labour practices are able to approach the CCMA alone or with certain
categories of recognised representatives in order to seek redress for
workplace wrongs.
Despite
efforts by the CCMA and the Department of Labour to publicise the fact that
most of the CCMA’s dispute resolution services are freely available, various
categories of unscrupulous operators seeking to make quick money,
continually utilise various ingenious means to distort the facts and to
convince vulnerable users that approaching the CCMA directly may not yield
the desired results.
Some of these
operators are lawyers who try to convince CCMA users that the services of
the institution cannot be procured without professional legal assistance and
representation. This is merely fictitious. According to Rule 25 of the
amended CCMA Rules, 2003, legal practitioners are only allowed to represent
employees in certain circumstances, at certain processes. A
lawyer or legal practitioner is, in most instances, not required in the
initial advice seeking or referral stages of the process. Users can
approach trained Case Management Officers (CMOs) on the second floor of the
CCMA building for free information and advice on how to refer disputes to
the CCMA. Furthermore, the CCMA best practice video entitled
“Trouble at Work! What can I do” was produced with the
intention of assisting organisations that support and advise workers on
their labour rights. The video offers advice and guidance to workers
when a dispute arises in the workplace. It has been widely distributed
and is available in isiZulu, Sesotho, Afrikaans and English.
Other
operators may be untrained or semi-trained individuals who are merely
seeking to make quick money out of some of the most vulnerable categories of
people. These operators may include so-called consultants who offer to
circumvent CCMA queues by providing users with referral forms and advice.
Whilst the CCMA provides dispute referral forms to employees at no cost, our
research has shown that some of the more unscrupulous operators charge
applicants as much as R500, 00
for completing referral forms and advice. Some offer to represent applicants
in CCMA hearings, only to be excluded from hearings by commissioners who do
not allow consultants to represent in hearings. Our research has also
shown that some operators merely part employees from their money and then
vanish without having provided the services that these unwitting applicants
have paid dearly for.
Certain
operators may even try to masquerade as helpful CCMA employees and offer to
escort applicants to the correct offices and to assist with the completion
of forms and other administrative details. CCMA employees are
generally to be found INSIDE the building and not outside the
building or on the stairs of the building. No CCMA employee may
solicit business for him/herself in this manner as this is against the
CCMA’s rules of conduct for its employees.
In
conclusion, the CCMA would like to highlight the following critical
elements:
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Lodging a dispute is a free service at the CCMA,
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CCMA does not charge for completing referral forms,
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CCMA does not provide lawyers or
consultants to applicants,
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CCMA employees are not allowed to solicit business
either inside or outside the building, and
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If you suspect fraud/corruption in this regard, please
contact their Call Centre at 0861 16 16
16 or alternatively e-mail them
at
ho@ccma.org.za
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