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Talita Laubscher

Talita Laubscher

Partner
Johannesburg, South Africa
T: +27 11 669 9522
E: talita.laubscher@bowmanslaw.com
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  • Overview
  • Experience
  • Publications & Insights

Overview

‘Employment law is the one practice area in a corporate law firm where one works daily with various rights protected in the Bill of Rights – the right to equality, the right to fair labour practices, the right to privacy, the right to freedom of association, the right to human dignity. This, together with the principle of fairness, is what drew me to employment law, and later data protection law’, says Talita.

Clients rely on her to provide practical, excellent advice – usually within fast turnaround times.

When assisting a client with an employment law problem, her approach is to listen with an open mind and provide options, which would differ according to the associated legal, business and employee relations risks. All these risks must be weighed up, and ultimately the client must be empowered to make the most informed decision possible.

In the employment law domain, she regularly advises on the employment consequences of commercial transactions, dismissals and the drafting of employment contracts. She is particularly interested in law of unfair discrimination and was part of the team who advised Business Unity South Africa on the amendments to the Employment Equity Act and the Regulations pertaining to equal pay which took effect in 2014. This interest in discrimination law as fostered through her exposure to foreign discrimination law, first as a participant in the International Human Rights Training Programme in Montreal, Canada, in 1996 and later as a student of Employment Discrimination and International Law at Emory, USA.

Talita is also at the forefront of data protection developments. She and her team developed a Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) toolkit to enable employers to ensure compliance. However, her expertise on data protection extends beyond the employment relationship and she advises on all aspects of data protection.

Although many of the matters she deals with are time-sensitive, speed should not be at the expense of a quality solution. Talita is adept at maintaining the balance and at identifying circumstances where it is necessary to tread carefully and patiently rather than hastily.

Talita works with a team she describes as ‘brilliant’, while noting that the buck stops with herself as the partner.

Talita has acted as a judge in Labour Court. 

She is also a keen researcher and has published extensively. She co-authored Sibergramme’s Contracts of Employment with Chris Todd and contributes two chapters to Employment Equity Law, an academic textbook on employment equity.

Education:

  • LLM, University of Emory, USA
  • LLB (cum laude), University of Free State
  • Iuris (cum laude), University of Free State

Specialist Services

Relevant Experience

Jurisdictions worked in: South Africa
Languages fluent in: English and Afrikaans

Talita has been involved in groundbreaking cases, in the Labour Court and Labour Appeal Court, such as:

  • a dismissal dispute where one of the issues was whether people from designated groups can insist on protection during a retrenchment exercise;
  • a second generation outsourcing case that involved multiple group entities;
  • a transfer of employment case that confirmed that use of assets (as opposed to transfer of ownership) is sufficient to trigger the application of section 197 of the Labour Relations Act;
  • an equal pay dispute involving the concept of indirect discrimination – the first of its kind in our jurisprudence.

The Covid-19 pandemic posed unique challenges to employers, and through Talita’s involvement with the work of Business for South Africa (B4SA), she provided extensive guidance to employers through the various Alert Levels. She was intimately involved in the Nedlac processes, most notably the TERS benefit and advice pertaining to employers’ obligations under the Occupational Health and Safety Directives. The issue of mandatory vaccinations in the workplace was a hot topic, and Talita and her team assisted various employers in developing their Workplace Plans to ensure compliance with the Directives.

Signature Matters

Awards

  • Talita is rated in Band 3 for Employment Law by Chambers & Partners. From 2018 to 2022, she was ranked in Band 4 in the same category.

  • Talita was recognised by Who’s Who Legal 2018 in the category Employment & Benefits:  Labour & Employment, Africa Employment Law Firm of the year. This was awarded in recognition of the Firm’s advice in the formation of Coca-Cola Beverages Africa and its subsidiaries, a transaction in which Talita and her team was intimately involved.

Publications & Insights