This article was prepared by Neil Searle, Tshepiso
Rasetlola and candidate attorney Kea Mathobela.
South African labour legislation does not impose obligations on
an employer to pay bonuses to its employees, the right must have,
by agreement – tacitly or impliedly – formed part of
the terms and conditions of employment, apart from that the
decision to pay bonuses is at the discretion of the employer.
Employers are certainly not obliged to remunerate striking
employees for services not rendered during strike action–
this principle accords with the "no work no pay"
standard. However, the forfeiture or selective payment of a bonus
in such instances can be disputed as an unfair labour practice or
unfair discrimination. The fact that the payment of bonuses under a
bonus scheme may be at the discretion of the employer does not
automatically place the employer's actions beyond the scope of
judicial enquiry. Employees have a constitutional right to strike
and section 5(1) of
