I have been waiting years for a hearing date at the Labour court. What can I do?

The long answer

Unfortunately, it is considered normal for a Labour Court case in Johannesburg to be still awaiting a set-down date more than a year after heads of argument were filed and status was updated. This is because, as Marecia Damons in a Groundup article in June 2025 noted, the Labour Court in Johannesburg deals with more than half of all Labour Court matters, and the Labour Court has only 13 judges to serve the entire country. Thus, it is severely overburdened and has a massive backlog. This means that there is often a waiting period of twelve to eighteen months for a trial date, and it can sometimes take two to four years. 

You may be aware that new Rules for the Labour Court and the Labour Appeal Court came into effect on 17 July 2024, and have replaced the rules that have been in force since 1996, as well as the Practice Manual for the Labour Court, which has applied since 2013. (Published in the Government Gazette on 3 May 2024).

According to Moonstone, these new rules are poised to make headway in addressing the backlog of cases at the Labour Court. The new rules contain significant changes to procedure, many of which provide clarity on the existing processes. They also focus on technological advancements such as email filing and virtual hearings.  

Fairbridges says that these new rules are likely to apply to cases instituted before 17 July 2024, but are still awaiting set-down. This is because of the precedent set by Samuels v Old Mutual Bank, where the court held that new procedural rules apply to cases instituted before the rules came into effect. But the Labour Court still has the right to decide how the rules apply, based on the specific circumstances of a case.

You may also be aware of the new 2025 Labour Law Amendment Bill, released on 26 February 2026, which is presently out for comment. The Bill proposes amendments to the Labour Relations Act (LRA), Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA), Employment Equity Act (EEA), Unemployment Insurance Act, and the National Minimum Wage Act.

Legal specialists say that the Bill combines stronger worker protections, major changes to dismissal law, and tighter compliance obligations for employers. 

So, as the Amendment Bill may have some bearing on your matter, these are some of the key changes proposed:

• For employees earning above the proposed threshold (approx. R1.8-million per annum), reinstatement as a remedy for unfair dismissal is severely limited, with compensation capped instead.

• The statutory minimum severance pay is increased from one week to two weeks' remuneration for each completed year of continuous service.

• The Code clarifies that a fair procedure for misconduct/incapacity simply requires giving the employee a reasonable opportunity to respond, reducing reliance on overly formal legalistic hearings.

• The scope of incapacity is extended to include incompatibility (inability to work with colleagues) and imprisonment.

To return to your set-down date, what can you do to speed it up?

• You (or your NUM legal representative) should follow up regularly with the registrar to ensure that the file is active and check that it has not been sent to the archives. (Under the 2013 Labour Court Practice Manual, a case could be considered archived if no steps had been taken for six months.)

• You could email the Johannesburg Labour Court registrar to inquire about the delay and request a set-down date, ensuring you quote your case number. This is the email address: [email protected]. (You could also use the Court Online system.)

• You (and/or your NUM representative) could go to the Labour Court in Johannesburg in person and ask what is going on with your set-down date.

Hoping that the new rules are actually speeding things up at the Labour Court, and wishing you all the best,

Wishing you the best,
Athalie