Africa: Employment and HR

Botswana's Employment and Labour Relations Act, 2025 brings sweeping reforms to employment law, fundamentally reshaping how businesses classify workers, structure contracts, and manage workplace relationships. From stricter controls on fixed-term arrangements to enhanced protections against discrimination and harassment, employers face significant compliance obligations across recruitment, leave administration, disciplinary procedures, and collective bargaining.

A South African Labour Court has stayed disciplinary proceedings after discovering that the chairperson's ruling relied on AI-generated, fictitious case citations. The judgment examines whether blind reliance on artificial intelligence tools constitutes a failure to apply independent legal reasoning, and what consequences flow from submitting fabricated authorities to courts and tribunals.

As artificial intelligence transforms workplace operations from recruiting to performance management, organizations face mounting regulatory scrutiny over high-risk AI applications under frameworks like the EU AI Act.

A South African Labour Court ruling confirms that male employees are equally protected under sexual harassment laws, even when the perpetrator is female. The judgment emphasizes that employers must treat such complaints with appropriate gravity and cannot rely solely on informal resolution mechanisms when serious harassment occurs. This case establishes critical precedents for workplace harassment policies and employer liability.

The EU Pay Transparency Directive's transposition deadline has passed with most Member States failing to implement national legislation, creating a fragmented legal landscape that exposes employers to immediate compliance risks. Despite delayed national implementation, the Directive's underlying obligations are already shaping legal exposure through direct effect and directive-consistent interpretation. Employers face complex requirements spanning pre-employment salary disclosure, in-employment transparency

A South African Labour Court judgment examines the boundaries of informal harassment resolution procedures, establishing that an employer's duty to eliminate workplace harassment persists even when a complainant initially accepts an apology.

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A Nigerian court has ruled that professional football clubs and governing bodies bear legally enforceable obligations to players that extend beyond salary payments, encompassing medical welfare, insurance coverage...

A Lagos High Court has ruled that estate residents' associations and their security service providers can be held liable in negligence when security protocol failures result in property loss. The judgment establishes critical precedents regarding duty of care, protocol enforcement, and the shared responsibility framework governing gated community security in Nigeria.

Nigeria's labour laws combine colonial-era statutes with modern legislation, creating a complex framework for employment disputes. Multinational companies entering this rapidly growing market must navigate wrongful dismissal claims, wage disputes, and discrimination issues while ensuring compliance with the National Industrial Court's jurisdiction and constitutional employment protections.

Job rotation is the method of moving staff between different departments to give them exposure to various functions and aspects of a business undertaking, while enhancing their skills and professional development

The Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (“POPIA”), in regulating an additional and more protected category of personal information, generally prohibits the processing of special personal information...