This happened several years ago, but will give some idea of what a Church may contend with. The Church needed to dismiss an employee. It sought professional counsel, and engaged an independent, experienced mediator. It followed every advice, and the employee was dismissed for “gross insubordination”. To our surprise, a union then demanded R7 000 compensation, bringing absurd (fabricated) charges against the Church. We took it to a labour law consultant. He said: “This happens all the time. You have acted correctly. But it will cost you R15 000 or more to prove it. The union knows that. So you pay the union R7 000 -- you save yourselves R8 000 or more -- and they report a win to their members.” OBSERVATION: The Church was caught in a trap. What to do? We decided to withdraw all cooperation from the system. The case went all the way to appeal, without the Church being present. It was thrown out on appeal.
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