Welcome to the LabourDrive™ Essentials educational & training publications produced by the Founder of the LabourDrive™ ERMS Platform, Chris Haralambous.
During his extensive legal career, Chris has represented both employers and high-level employees in multiple CCMA and Labour Court cases, assisted employers in often complex restructuring situations and has drafted a variety of employment contracts and employment policies. He has also functioned as external disciplinary chairperson in countless disciplinary hearings, including as Management representative in the prosecution of disciplinary allegations for employers and conversely, defending employees against internal disciplinary charges.
His passion for ER legal training and a desire to share from his professional experiences in legal practice has led Chris towards the production of pre-recorded topical presentations, covering a range of ER legal compliance topics. These publications aim to bridge certain “knowledge gaps” and hopefully supply a level of support to HR/IR Managers, business owners and ER practitioners, who often grapple with related ER challenges on a daily basis.
In some instances, there is a deliberate return to discussing basic principles of ER best practices and the importance of clarifying the application of fundamental legal concepts.
At a higher level, because some ER concepts are more complex and technical, there is an attempt to unpack them in a way that hopefully makes them easier to understand.
At a practical level, there is an attempt to merge experience from practice with legislative compliance principles, hopefully providing insight and increased confidence for those “deep in the trenches”, both internally, within private management and for those who often deal with external ER disputes.
A central theme within these publications is a recognition that ER procedural compliance legal frameworks serve a vital dual purpose – they firstly seek to improve staff relations and preserve employment in the workplace, whilst secondly, simultaneously striving to entrench fairness and transparency within employment relations, through prescribed pre-dismissal processes, depending on the context.
Sometimes, procedural compliance is perceived to be inconveniently formalistic, without seeing the practical value that is often achieved through effective engagement with staff.
In essence, procedural engagement recognizes the importance of human communication, especially within the employment relationship.
Part of the ever-evolving nature of ER practice and procedure is engaging with ER professionals, HR Managers, IR Officers and business owners to hopefully gain insight into what factors make ER management systems more useful and effective.
For those out there who are willing to participate in this ongoing conversation, we invite you to subscribe to our free “LabourDrive Essentials” educational channel or simply follow us on LinkedIn.
