Ongoing HR and employment law support for South African businesses — from drafting a first warning to representing you at the CCMA. One monthly fee. No surprises. Backed by an attorney who is also a registered HR practitioner.
The retainer is designed to cover the full spectrum of HR and employment law needs that a growing South African business encounters — from day-to-day advice through to formal proceedings.
One contested CCMA arbitration typically costs far more than an entire year of retainer fees. The retainer isn't just a convenience — it's sound financial risk management.
All retainers are governed by a 12-month SLA. Hearing, chairperson, and CCMA allocations are annual — giving you flexibility to draw on them as your business needs arise. Chairperson and CCMA services are capped per tier because each matter can span multiple sessions; the caps protect you and ensure quality over quantity.
All retainers are on a 12-month SLA. Allocations are annual — unused credits do not carry over. Matters exceeding tier caps are billed at a preferential retainer rate. Excludes Labour Court filing fees, CCMA filing fees, and disbursements. All pricing ex VAT.
South Africa has some of the most complex employment legislation in the world. The LRA, BCEA, EEA, and Skills Development Act create a web of obligations that most employers navigate reactively — only seeking help once something has gone wrong.
The HR & Labour Retainer is designed for employers who want to move from reactive crisis management to proactive, compliant, and confident people management. If you have staff and face any of the following, this retainer is for you:
Every South African employer is bound by these Acts — regardless of size.
Raymond advises across all of these — not just the most visible ones.
HR support covers the management of people processes — designing policies, conducting hearings, managing performance, and advising on best practice. Legal representation involves acting as your attorney at formal proceedings — CCMA conciliation, arbitration, and Labour Court. Most practitioners offer one or the other. Raymond offers both, which means your HR process and your legal defence strategy are designed by the same person, with consistency across the entire matter.
Yes. We regularly assist employers who have received a CCMA referral without having had prior legal involvement. The sooner you engage us, the better — particularly at the conciliation stage, where many matters are resolved before arbitration. If your matter is already at arbitration stage, contact us immediately. We can take over the matter, review what has happened to date, and prepare the strongest possible case.
Retainer clients are registered as members of a registered employers' organisation. This carries a specific and valuable right under the CCMA Rules that is separate from — and in addition to — the attorney-client relationship.
Rule 25 of the Rules for the Conduct of Proceedings before the CCMA entitles a member of a registered employers' organisation to be represented at CCMA proceedings by an official or representative of that organisation. Critically, this right extends to both conciliation and arbitration — including misconduct and incapacity matters. As a representative of the employers' organisation, Raymond is entitled to appear for you at these proceedings as of right, without requiring the other party's consent (which would ordinarily be required before an attorney may appear at arbitration).
In practical terms this means: your CCMA conciliation, your disciplinary hearings, and your incapacity proceedings are handled by a qualified attorney and registered HR practitioner — appearing in the capacity of your employers' organisation representative — as part of your retainer. The representation right is statutory, it is robust, and it removes the ambiguity that arises when employers attempt to arrange ad hoc legal representation at short notice.
Membership of the employers' organisation is arranged as part of your retainer engagement. There is no separate process or additional fee.
Section 189 of the Labour Relations Act governs individual and small-scale retrenchments. It requires an employer to consult with affected employees, consider alternatives, apply fair selection criteria, and pay the correct severance. The process is strictly procedural — even a commercially justified retrenchment will be found unfair if the procedure is wrong. Section 189A applies to large-scale retrenchments (generally 10 or more employees) and involves compulsory CCMA facilitation. We manage both processes from start to finish, including all required notices and consultation documentation.
Yes. The retainer can be structured to cover a group of related entities or a business operating across multiple sites. This is particularly useful for franchisors, group companies, or holding structures with subsidiary employers. Contact us to discuss a tailored group retainer arrangement.
If you have a single, isolated employment matter — one CCMA case, one dismissal, a single contract query — a once-off R750 consultation followed by ad hoc billing is likely the right approach. The retainer makes financial sense for businesses with recurring HR activity: regular disciplinary matters, a growing workforce, or a history of CCMA appearances. We'll give you an honest recommendation at your initial consultation.