Enforcement of Arbitration Awards

ENFORCEMENT OF ARBITRATION AWARDS – SECTION 143 OF THE LABOUR RELATIONS AMENDMENTS ACT (LRA) NO. 6 of 2014

Amendments to section 143 of the LRA are intended to streamline the mechanisms for enforcing arbitration awards of the CCMA/bargaining councils and are aimed at making these mechanisms more cost effective and easily accessible to lower earning litigants/complainants. An award for the payment of money, which has been certified by the PHSDSBC, can be presented to the sheriff for execution, if payment is not made. This amendment does away with the current practice, in terms of which parties have to have a writ issued by the Labour Court. The enforcement of awards to pay money, will now occur, in terms of the Rules and Tariffs applicable to the Magistrates Court. In the case of awards, such as reinstatement, which are enforced by contempt proceedings in the Labour Court, the need to have the arbitration award made an order of the Labour Court before contempt proceedings can commence, is no longer applicable. In these cases, the fore mentioned procedure will also apply.

Citation: Section 143 of the Labour Relations Amendments Act No. 6 of 2014 CCMA 2015 presentation on the Labour Law Amendments