Most labour complaints do not belong at the head office of the Department of Employment and Labour, and sending one there is the usual reason nothing happens. The department works through labour centres, and the disputes that get resolved fastest go to the CCMA instead. This page gives the head office details, then sets out which route your complaint actually belongs in.
Department of Employment and Labour head office
- Telephone: 012 309 4000
- Email: [email protected]
- Fax: 086 688 9835
- Address: Laboria House, 215 Francis Baard Street, Pretoria
- Postal: Private Bag X117, Pretoria, 0001
- Office hours: Monday to Friday, 07h30 to 16h00
The department also publishes an online feedback form on labour.gov.za, and separate directories for labour centres, provincial offices and satellite offices. Those directories are how you find the office that will actually handle your matter.
Which route your complaint belongs in
- Unfair dismissal, unfair labour practice or a wage dispute with your employer: the CCMA, which is a separate body from the department and handles these directly
- Unpaid wages, leave pay, notice pay or an employer breaking the Basic Conditions of Employment Act: your nearest labour centre, where an inspector can be assigned
- An unsafe workplace, an injury on duty or an OHS breach: the inspectorate, through the labour centre for that area
- UIF and Compensation Fund matters: those funds have their own contact pages on labour.gov.za and are not handled by head office
Time limits matter here more than anywhere else. A CCMA referral for unfair dismissal must generally be made within thirty days of the dismissal, and an unfair labour practice within ninety days. Late referrals need condonation, which is not guaranteed. If your matter is dismissal-related, do not spend those thirty days waiting for a head office reply.
What a labour centre needs from you
- Your identity document and your employer full registered name and address
- Your contract or appointment letter, payslips and any written warnings or correspondence
- Dates: when you started, when the problem arose and when you were dismissed or last paid
- A written statement of what you are asking for, since a complaint without a remedy attached is hard to act on
Escalation
- Follow up in writing to [email protected], quoting the labour centre, the case number and the inspector name if one was assigned
- For a dismissal or workplace dispute the CCMA is the proper forum and its services are free to employees
- For maladministration by the department itself rather than by your employer, the Public Protector takes complaints about government departments