Director-General: Department of Employment and Labour v Green Secure Group

The Director-General of the Department of Employment and Labour applied to the Labour Court, in an unopposed application, to have a compliance order issued under the Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997 (BCEA) made an order of court in terms of s 77A(a). The compliance order had been issued before 1 January 2019, and the court application was served and filed before that date. With effect from 1 January 2019, s 77A(a) was repealed and enforcement of compliance orders was shifted from the Labour Court to the CCMA. The CCMA participated to assist the court on the jurisdictional question arising from the legislative amendment.

The Labour Court held that it had jurisdiction and granted the application, making the compliance order an order of court in terms of prayers 1, 2 and 3 of the notice of motion.

The judgment clarifies the transitional effect of the 2018 amendments to the BCEA, particularly the shift of enforcement of compliance orders from the Labour Court to the CCMA. It provides authoritative guidance on how pending enforcement applications are to be treated and confirms that only applications already filed before 1 January 2019 remain within the Labour Court’s jurisdiction.