Labour Court orders CPUT to pay dismissed employee more than R497,000

The Labour Court in Cape Town overturns a prior CCMA finding and rules that the dismissal of a long-serving Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) employee due to ill health is substantively unfair. The court’s decision follows a dispute over whether CPUT’s decision to dismiss the employee was justified in the context of the employee’s health condition and the employer’s handling of the matter.

As a result, CPUT is ordered to compensate the employee in excess of R497,000. The award stems from the Labour Court’s assessment of the fairness of the dismissal, including whether the employer’s actions met the requirements for a dismissal based on incapacity.

The report focuses on the court’s reversal of the CCMA ruling and the financial outcome of the case, which concerns a workplace termination linked to illness.