- Condonation granted for late filing.
- An arbitration award is set aside only on a grading dispute.
- Fresh arbitration to check the fairness of SARS job grades.
For more than two decades, employees at the South African Revenue Service (SARS) have felt overlooked and underappreciated. The trouble started when SARS rolled out the Hay Grading System, assigning job grades that many believed didn’t reflect their true responsibilities and value.
That sense of unfairness led to a protracted dispute with the Public Servants’ Association of South Africa (PSA), a dispute that has cast a shadow for years. Now, the Labour Court in Johannesburg has stepped in and ordered a new arbitration, offering these workers renewed hope for fair treatment.
Over the years, there were attempts to sort things out through private arbitration. Disputes for category “A” employees were settled back in 2003, but those for category “B” employees dragged on. Even the CCMA and earlier arbitrations couldn’t resolve the matter. For many, the wait brought ongoing frustration and uncertainty about their pay and future at SARS.
Arbitrator missed the main issue
In 2022, Advocate Mark Thys, the appointed arbitrator, dismissed PSA’s claims for back pay because he said they were too late. The Labour Court agreed that the financial claims were prescribed. But the court found that the arbitrator ignored the main question, whether SARS’ job grades were fair.
The court said this was a serious mistake. By not looking at the fairness of the grading process, the arbitrator failed to deal with the heart of the dispute. This left employees without answers about their careers. The court had to step in to correct this.
Court Orders Fresh Arbitration
The Labour Court allowed the late filing of the review. It set aside the 2022 arbitration award, but only for the grading dispute. PSA and SARS must now go back to arbitration with a new arbitrator.
If the parties cannot agree on who the arbitrator will be within 10 court days, the Johannesburg Society of Advocates will appoint one with at least 10 years’ experience. The new arbitrator must decide whether SARS’ grading decisions were fair and reasonable.
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