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of court and the unlawful conduct perpetrated. Neither was it necessary
for the employer to identify every individual perpetrator, as all the striking
employees could be held in contempt as they were acting in concert
and with a common purpose.
The court also found that the trade union had failed to comply with its
obligations in the interdict as it could have done a lot more to avert the
violence and unlawful conduct of the striking employees.
The court imposed a fine of R1 million against the trade union, suspended
for three years, and each striking employee was ordered to pay a fine of
R1000.00, which the employer was entitled to deduct from their salaries.
This verdict sends a strong message about the importance of adhering
to orders of court and also that trade unions are responsible to take
reasonable steps to stop their members from resorting to unlawful
conduct, violence and intimidation during strike action.
May I get time off from work to breastfeed?

August 2017 Labour

“I recently gave birth to a baby boy. I want to breastfeed my
son, but being back at work is making it very difficult for me
to breastfeed as our breaks are quite short. May I ask my
employer for more time during the day to breastfeed, or is that
not allowed?”

Fortunately our Legislature has recognised the importance of
providing for the accommodation of breastfeeding mothers and has
promulgated a Code of Good Practice on the Protection of Employees
during Pregnancy and after the Birth of a Child (“Code”). This Code
provides guidelines for the protection of the health of women against
potential hazards in their work environment during pregnancy, after the
birth of a child and while breastfeeding and also makes it pertinent that
discrimination against pregnant women is not allowed.
The Code provides guidelines to employers to accommodate
breastfeeding employees and specifically provides that an employer
must at a minimum accommodate breastfeeding employees by
providing breaks of 30 minutes twice per day for breastfeeding or
expressing milk, for the first six months of the child’s life. This will be in
addition to for example the official lunchbreak of the employee.
It must however be understood, that the norms established by the Code
are general and serve as guidelines for employers. These norms may not
however be appropriate for all workplaces. A departure from the Code

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