Labour court jurisdiction: Concern employment contract?

ERM Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd v Nkobi (J1393/14) [2015] ZALCJHB 331 (30 September 2015) per Rabkin-Naicker J.

The Labour Court refused to grant default judgment for damages against a former employee who was alleged to owe money related to a study bursary.  The employer relied on the alleged breach of a fixed-term employment contract but there was no link to the bursary agreement.

In terms of s 77(3) read with 77A(e) of the BCEA the Labour Court only has jurisdiction to resolve disputes concerning a contract of employment. The claim concerned the alleged breach of the bursary agreement and not the employment contract and the Labour Court did not have jurisdiction.