Bridgeton Petoors

Candidate Attorney, Litigation Department

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Somerset West

bridgeton@mblh.co.za

021 840 8000

021 840 8088

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Bridgeton Petoors is a Candidate Legal Practitioner within the litigation department. He has a particular interest in labour law, and divorce and maintenance. He strives to always give 110% to any and all tasks being done, including assisting clients to the best of his ability.

Profile
Credentials
Expertise
Insights

Bridgeton is a candidate legal practitioner within the litigation department. He developed a keen interest for labour law in his LLB undergraduate degree, which propelled him to complete his Masters therein as well. While completing his Masters degree at Stellenbosch University, he also worked full time for the well-known legal information institute known as SAFLII (South African Legal Information Institute). His passion for the law is self-evident within both is work attitude and work ethics. He also believes that his passion for people is what makes him an asset to his clients.

Apart from the law, Bridgeton enjoys going out on long drives and sitting with a good book by one of his favourite authors, John C. Maxwell.

Education

LLB degree (University of the Western Cape)
LLM degree (Labour law) (Stellenbosch University)

Community Involvement

Young adult leader at AFM Generation-to-Generation church, resultantly, on the church board.

Dispute Resolution

Divorce and Maintenance

Labour and Employment

Mediation and Arbitration

When Can My Employer Convert My Paid Suspension to Unpaid?

06 March 2024, Bridgeton Petoors

Generally, employees suspended during a disciplinary enquiry are entitled to their full salary. This suspension allows for a thorough investigation... of the incident in the workplace without distractions or obstructions by the employee. However, there are times when an employer might feel that they’re being ‘bled out’ by an employee. This article answers the question of whether an employer can abandon their responsibility to make payment to their employee, pending a disciplinary enquiry.

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Article

Regulating WhatsApp in South Africa: Can Employees Be Dismissed for WhatsApp Messages?

05 December 2023, Bridgeton Petoors

How widely and consistently do you use WhatsApp in your workplace? Do you have WhatsApp groups designated for work purposes?... Can you freely express your opinion on certain topics while in those WhatsApp groups? Given the social media era that has dawned within the workplace, a crucial question that needs to be addressed is whether an employee may be fairly dismissed based on a WhatsApp message. This comment explores this question with the assistance of the 2022 CCMA ruling of Gerber / Xone Control Management.

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The Art of Breathing: I Failed the Breathalyser Test in My Workplace. What Now?

04 September 2023, Bridgeton Petoors

For years, breathalyser tests were a primary method to determine whether employees tested positive for alcohol. These results have been... used by employers to sanction employees if the tests were positive. But what happens when an employee claims that a positive result on a breathalyser test is incorrect and still gets dismissed? The recent judgment of Samancor Chrome v Willemse demonstrates an employee's options should they believe that the positive result is incorrect and therefore, aren’t liable nor deserve any sanction – especially one of dismissal.

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A refusal to work overtime: what do you need to know?

08 May 2023, Bridgeton Petoors

Can you refuse to work overtime? If so, can you be dismissed for refusing to work overtime? Also, can a... tacit agreement become enforceable to compel an employee to stay and work overtime? These are all questions that were posed and answered in the recent Labour Court judgment of AMCU obo Mkhonto and Others v Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) and Others, and reminds employers on what to do should their business rely on overtime work.

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The Parity Principle: “I’ve been dismissed but my colleague who has done the same only got a warning. Is that fair?”

03 March 2023, Bridgeton Petoors

An ever-increasing trend for employees in labour disputes – particularly those of unfair dismissals – is the application of the... parity principle. Essentially, the principle dictates that two or more employees guilty of similar misconduct should be penalised in similar ways. The issue, however, is determining whether this principle can be applied as a blanket defence for employees’ misconduct in the workplace. This paper will briefly address the issue as aforesaid.

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