Most small businesses only discover they needed HR paperwork at the CCMA. An employee disputes a dismissal, the commissioner asks for the warning history and the signed contract — and everything lives in old WhatsApps and someone's memory. The award that follows is usually expensive.
The good news: for a small employer, "HR" boils down to a handful of documents the law already tells you to keep.
What the law actually requires
- Written particulars of employment (BCEA s29). From day one, every employee must receive a written document listing the employer's details, the job, hours, pay and how it's calculated, leave, and notice periods. It doesn't have to be a 40-page contract — but it must exist, in writing.
- A record of pay and hours (BCEA s31 & s33). Payslips with the prescribed details, and records of time worked — kept for three years.
- A certificate of service (BCEA s42). When someone leaves — resignation or dismissal — they're entitled to a certificate stating the job and dates. Refusing one is a compliance breach.
- A fair disciplinary process (LRA Schedule 8). Dismissal for misconduct is only fair if it followed progressive discipline: counselling or warnings first, escalating to a final written warning, with the employee aware of the rule and the consequence.
Why the warning register matters most
At the CCMA, the burden is on the employer to prove a dismissal was fair. That proof is the paper trail:
1. The warning was recorded — kind (verbal, written, final), date, and what happened 2. The employee saw it — an acknowledgment, not a warning filed secretly 3. Warnings lapse — typically after 6–12 months, so the record needs validity dates
A commissioner who sees a dated, acknowledged, progressive warning history usually has a short hearing. One who sees nothing usually orders compensation — up to 12 months' pay for an ordinary unfair dismissal.
The other files worth keeping
- The employee file: signed contract, ID copy, tax number, banking confirmation, qualifications. One place, not a drawer.
- Emergency contact: the day you need it is the wrong day to start looking for it.
- Performance reviews: even one honest review a year turns "we felt he wasn't performing" into a documented, dated record — which is what incapacity dismissals require.
- Employment letters: banks and landlords constantly ask employees for confirmation-of-employment letters; a standard letter on your letterhead saves everyone time.
Doing this without an HR manager
None of this needs HR software with org charts and nine-box grids. It needs the records to live where the employment relationship already lives — next to payroll:
- 360books' HR & Payroll module keeps an employee file (documents up to 7MB each), a warning register where the employee acknowledges each notice on their own private portal, one-click certificates of service, employment letters and s29 contracts on your letterhead, performance reviews and emergency contacts — included with payroll on every plan.
- Hourly staff log daily timesheets on the same portal, and the hours pull straight into their payslip with overtime at 1.5× — so the s31 time records keep themselves.
Accounting + Payroll + HR + CRM — one subscription, one login, priced in Rands.
This is general information, not legal advice. For a live dispute, talk to a labour practitioner.