Welcome to The People Insider — a weekly brief for anyone who employs people in South Africa.
Every Wednesday: one headline, one tool, one leadership story, one stat and one question. Under five minutes. No fluff. Let's get into it.
01 — THE HEADLINE
One employer scrapped its 13th cheque and now owes everyone 5 years’ back pay…
In 2021, Cape Town manufacturer Barrs Pharmaceutical Industries (later bought by Avacare Health Group) told its staff it was scrapping their 13th cheque and replacing it with a performance bonus. (Hey, it was COVID and everyone was doing what they could to survive.) But not everyone was happy; some threatened action.
So the company stood firm, offering a 5.5% raise to anyone who accepted the change without a fight. Those who refused would not get the raise, and it warned that a strike would be "ineffective and futile."
“Unless you can get Charlie Chaplin to lead it…”
Of the 214 employees disputing, 159 accepted the raise, and that December, everyone else got a R3,000 goodwill payment instead of their 13th cheque.
Forty-five held out and disputed. And in February this year, the Labour Court ordered the company to pay each of them a 13th cheque for every year it had skipped, from 2021 until the day it pays.
Why the company lost
It had nothing to do with how the year went; it was the paperwork. In a 2020 settlement agreement, the company had written that it was "contractually obliged to pay each employee a 13th cheque." That made the bonus part of the contract, and the court was clear that a contractual bonus has to be paid regardless of the employer's financial situation.
The opposite case, with its own catch
Centurion-based laboratory, UIS Analytical Services, did the reverse. Its employment contracts said it had “no legal obligation” to pay bonuses, so any bonus was at its discretion. In October 2024, it told staff there would be no bonuses this year, and that the decision was final.
The union called a strike, and the company went to court to stop it, arguing that a bonus is a benefit, and fights over benefits have to go to arbitration, not a strike. But the court disagreed.
Because the contracts made the bonus discretionary, staff had no legal right to it, yes. But they weren’t fighting over something they were owed; they were demanding something new. And in South Africa you can lawfully strike for that.
So the wording that stopped UIS from being forced to pay is the same wording that let its staff strike.
Which one do you have?
If the bonus is written in as guaranteed, or you have ever put in writing that it is, you must pay it, and you cannot buy your way out. If it is written as discretionary, you do not have to pay, but your people can strike to demand it.
And if you have paid it every year without writing anything down, you are in the unclear middle, where a single letter or settlement can decide the question for you, exactly as it did for Barrs.
WHAT TO DO NOW
Find the exact bonus wording. Check every contract, offer letter, policy and wage agreement, and any letters or settlements where you have described the bonus.
If you cannot pay this year, say so now and talk it through. Not in December, and not as a final decision.
If you want flexibility next year, write it plainly now. Wording like UIS's protects you from a court claim. Just know it also turns the bonus into something your staff can bargain over.
02 — TOOL OF THE WEEK
One tool shaping how people work
ENERGY / SOLAR SUBSCRIPTION
Solar for your business with nothing upfront
Energy is one of the few high costs a business can actually lock down, but the upfront price of a proper solar and battery system puts it out of reach for most smaller firms. Wetility's LIFT service puts solar panels and batteries on your roof for a monthly subscription instead, with no upfront cost.
Systems run from 15kWp to 300kWp, sized to your consumption, and the batteries keep machinery, lighting and essential services running through outages. Maintenance, support and insurance are included in the subscription, and an app monitors your system minute by minute. A "Help me choose" tool on the site recommends a setup based on your electricity bill.
03 — LEADERSHIP STORY
Too many managers? You won’t believe why Uber’s cutting 3,300 jobs
Uber is laying off roughly 10% of its staff. But the more useful insight is that it is mainly cutting the number of managers by 20%, with some moving back to doing the work themselves.
This would halve the number of teams with only one or two people in them, and let go of staff sitting more than seven layers below the CEO, who explains it plainly:
"We've built new products, expanded into new businesses, reached more consumers and supported more earners, and become a much larger and stronger company. But that growth has also brought complexity: more layers, more coordination, more fragmented ownership, and in some cases structures that made sense when businesses were smaller but no longer serve us well at our current scale."
You do not need thousands of staff to have this problem. Every growing business adds a layer for a reason that made sense at the time, and rarely takes one away.
One number tells you whether it has crept up on you: how many managers you have with only one or two reports. And here’s another:
The question worth sitting with: How many people now sit between you and the person who actually serves your customer?
04 — THE STAT
70% vs 37%
is how differently bosses and staff rate the same leaders. In the South African edition of Oliver Wyman's 300,000 Voices study, 70% of executives said their company's leaders show emotional intelligence well. Only 37% of non-managers agreed. The same research found South Africans rank recognition and feeling valued ahead of where and how they work. If you think your leadership team is reading the room, it may be worth asking the room.
Source: Oliver Wyman Forum, 300,000 Voices, South African edition, October 2026
05 — EVENTS
What’s coming up
FEATURED EVENT · FROM OUR SPONSOR
20 OCTOBER – SANDTON
HR Indaba and Jem Connect
Only 1% of global HR software spend goes towards deskless workers, and Jem co-founder Caroline van der Merwe says "that gap tells you everything." At HR Indaba at the Sandton Convention Centre, she'll talk about what it takes for digital tools to actually reach frontline teams, from choosing the right ones to handling the change, culture and communication that come with them.
Jem's team will be on its stand all day, and afterwards it hosts Jem Connect, an invitation-only drinks evening at Pappas on the Square for HR leaders and employers.
15 OCTOBER – CAPE TOWN
Scaling Globally, Managing Locally
A fireside chat at Innovation City Cape Town with leaders from OCFO, Sudor, Ruby Digital and Travelstart on expanding across borders without losing control at home.
23 OCTOBER – ONLINE COURSE
Trade Unions in the Workplace
A half-day course on working with unions, recognition, organisational rights and collective bargaining. Business owners are among its intended delegates.
27 OCTOBER – CAPE TOWN
Optimising Operations in Notion
An evening session hosted by Notion ZA at BBD Software Development, on turning messy operations into systems that run, and building one of your own in the room.
Got an event SA employers should know about? Reply and tell us.
06 — QUESTION OF THE WEEK
If you had to cut bonuses this year, would your people hear it from you in October, or find out in December?
07 — BROUGHT TO YOU BY
PREMIUM SPONSOR
Jem helps South African employers manage and support their deskless, frontline teams: payslips, leave, HR admin, team comms and financial-wellness benefits (including earned-wage access), all over WhatsApp. Trusted by 200+ employers and 250,000+ workers.
This space is reserved for a small handful of partners we're glad to stand behind, and we've kept 4 more spots open. If your product belongs in front of South African business owners, hit reply and let's talk.
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