Labour Court of South Africa, Durban
Durban, KwaZulu-Natal
Address
Liberty Life House, 1st Floor, 269 Anton Lembede Street, Durban
Phone
031 492 6207
Matters Heard
- Unfair dismissal and unfair labour practice disputes not resolved at the CCMA or a bargaining council
- Reviews of CCMA arbitration awards
- Interdicts relating to strikes, lockouts and protected industrial action
About Labour Courts
The Labour Court and the Labour Appeal Court are specialist courts established under the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995, with the same status as the High Court. The Labour Court has exclusive jurisdiction over most disputes arising from South African employment law - unfair dismissal reviews and appeals from CCMA arbitration awards, unfair labour practice disputes, strike and lockout interdicts, and employment equity and collective bargaining matters. The Labour Appeal Court hears appeals from the Labour Court's own decisions.
The Labour Court sits in four registries - Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, and Gqeberha - sharing premises and staff with the Labour Appeal Court, which has a single, Johannesburg-based registry for the whole country. Most individual employees reach the labour court system by first referring a dispute to the CCMA (or the relevant bargaining council); the Labour Court's role is largely reviewing or hearing appeals from that process, not a first port of call for a new workplace dispute.
Judges of the Labour Court hold the same rank as High Court judges, and a Labour Court judgment carries the same weight and enforceability as one from any High Court division. Beyond individual disputes, the Labour Court also hears collective labour matters - certifying or refusing to certify bargaining council agreements as binding, interdicting unprotected strikes and lockouts, and deciding organisational rights disputes between unions and employers.
What to expect
- Most matters here follow, rather than replace, a CCMA or bargaining council process - check whether your dispute needs to start there first.
- Reviews of CCMA arbitration awards must generally be brought within six weeks of the award being served, so deadlines matter more here than in most other courts.
- Urgent applications (interdicting a strike, for example) can be heard on short notice when genuine urgency is shown.
- Both employers and employees appear here, often represented by attorneys, trade union officials, or employer organisations rather than only advocates.
- Costs orders are not automatic in labour matters the way they are in ordinary civil litigation - the Labour Relations Act directs the court to weigh fairness between the parties, not simply award costs to whoever won.
Related practice areas
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