[Question] Issue with "sub contractor"

[IvRensburg]

Hi All,

I hope someone on the forum can assist. I need clarity/information on a few issues

Do you need to have a singed contract with a "sub contractor"?
Do the same Labour Law's apply?

My issue/situation:
a sub contractor (without signed contract) took my vehicle and went to buy alcoholic beverages without my permission. Upon confrontation (where he was lighty shoved) he was told to take his things and leave and to not return.

I've had a call from a Labour Lawyer about the situation and he wants to come and see me to discuss the issue.

What am I to do?

Please ANY help/feedback will be greatly appreciated.

Kind regards,
Igna

[GCE]

Hi
I am just a sparky not a labour lawyer.

If a "sub Contractor "is just a person employed to carry out a job and he only works for you , has worked for you longer than 12 weeks, then they could see that person as an employee and the standard labour laws could apply.

If you have no sub contract agreement signed with him to carry out a specific task with a quote and all the rest of the documents that you would normally have when employing a sub contractor to do a job then I would think you have a problem.Some of those documents being Workman's compensation , tax clearance certificate as a sole prop etc to show that he is an actual sub contractor and that it is not just being done to avoid labour law.
SARS see a person that is sub contracted to one employer as an employee and you would need to ensure that paye and UIF are paid.

I am not a legal eagle but have been around the block a couple of times and kicked in the teeth even more.

[Dave A]

What are the features of your contractual relationship with this person that you believe preclude it from being employment governable under the Labour Relations Act?

[Derlyn]

Igna, what does your attorney say ?

[Nowa]

I think for this guy to have a approached a labour lawyer, there seems to be an impression of employment relationship (well at least from his side of view), if that's the case therefore labour laws apply otherwise commercial contractual agreements need apply. I would rather advise that no matter how small relationships seem to be rather reduce all to written/ signed agreements.

[IvRensburg]

Thank you to everybody for responding.

We met with the lawyer and decided to settle in order to avoid further complications i.e. CCMA. We were in the wrong, not having our paperwork in order and for not following proper procedure.

We are in the process of amending our contracts for our "sub contractors" as we realised we had some issues with that (as indicated by some responses).

So, it was an expensive run-in but glad we managed to resolve the situation.

Thank you once again to everybody that responded.

Kind regards,