How to refer an unfair dismissal to the CCMA

To refer an unfair dismissal you complete the CCMA referral form for a dispute, give a copy to your employer, and file it with the CCMA within 30 days of the date you were dismissed. There is no fee. You do not need an attorney to start the case, and thousands of people run their own referrals every year.

This guide is part of our Discipline at work: warnings, hearings and dismissal, which links every guide on the topic.

The Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 (LRA) sets the deadline and the process. The Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) provides the forms free and its staff will help you fill them in.

Step 1: Check that the CCMA is the right forum

Before you refer, check two things.

Was there a dismissal? You were dismissed if your employer ended your employment, if a fixed term contract was not renewed when you reasonably expected renewal, or if you resigned because the employer made continued employment intolerable. That last one is a constructive dismissal, and it is harder to prove.

Is there a bargaining council for your sector? Many industries, including motor, metal, retail, road freight, hospitality, private security and local government, have their own bargaining council with dispute resolution powers. If a council covers your employer, you refer the dispute to that council instead of the CCMA. The CCMA will tell you if you file in the wrong place, but that wastes time you may not have.

Step 2: Work out your deadline

The clock is 30 days from the date of dismissal. Section 190 of the Act fixes that date as the earlier of the day your contract ended and the day you left work. If the employer made its final decision to dismiss you, or to uphold the dismissal on an internal appeal, on a later date, section 191(1)(b) lets the 30 days run from that later decision instead. The safe course is still to count from your last day of employment, so that nothing turns on an argument about dates.

Different disputes have different clocks. An unfair labour practice, which covers things like unfair suspension, demotion, or unfair conduct relating to promotion, training or benefits, must be referred within 90 days. Discrimination disputes under the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 have their own timeframe of six months.

If you are already outside 30 days, you can still refer, but you must ask for condonation. That means asking the CCMA to accept a late referral. You explain how late it is, why it is late, how strong your case is, and what prejudice each side would suffer. Do it as soon as you realise you are late, and be honest about the reason. Our guide to condonation at the CCMA explains the test and what the affidavit must cover.

Step 3: Complete the referral form

The form is the LRA 7.11, the referral of a dispute to the CCMA. You can get it free from any CCMA office, from the CCMA website, or from the Department of Employment and Labour. Our CCMA referral checklist sets out what to gather before you start. Fill in:

1. Your full name and contact details, including a phone number you actually answer.
2. The employer's correct legal name and physical address. Getting this wrong is the single most common reason a case stalls, so use the name on your payslip or contract, not the trading name on the door.
3. The nature of the dispute, which here is unfair dismissal.
4. The date of dismissal and the reason the employer gave.
5. What outcome you want. The usual options are reinstatement, re-employment, or compensation.
6. A short summary of the facts. Keep it to what happened and when. You are not writing your closing argument.

Step 4: Serve it on your employer

You must give the employer a copy of the referral before or at the same time as you file it with the CCMA. You can hand it over, fax it, email it, or send it by registered post to the address you have for the employer.

Then prove it. The form has a section where you set out how and when you served the employer. Attach the proof, whether that is a signed acknowledgement, a registered post slip, a fax report, or a sent email. A referral without proof of service will usually be sent back to you.

Step 5: File it with the CCMA

Deliver the form to any CCMA office, or file it by the other methods the CCMA currently accepts, which include its online referral service; check the CCMA website for the current options. Keep your copy with the CCMA's stamp or the electronic confirmation. That stamp is your evidence that you were inside the 30 days.

The CCMA will give the matter a case number and send both sides a notice of set down telling you when and where to attend.

Step 6: Conciliation

The first hearing is conciliation. A commissioner meets both sides and tries to help you settle. It is informal and private, nothing said there can be used against you later, and there is no evidence or cross examination. Legal representation is generally not allowed at conciliation.

Section 135(2) of the Act requires the commissioner to try to resolve the dispute within 30 days of the referral, unless the parties agree to more time. Many cases end here with a settlement agreement, which is a binding document, so read it before you sign. The CCMA reported a settlement rate of 77% in 2024/25, as our page of CCMA statistics shows.

If the matter does not settle, the commissioner issues a certificate saying the dispute remains unresolved. Keep that certificate. You need it for the next step.

Step 7: Arbitration or the Labour Court

If conciliation fails, where your case goes next depends on the reason for the dismissal.

• Misconduct, incapacity, and most ordinary dismissals go to CCMA arbitration. You must request arbitration, using the LRA 7.13 form, within 90 days of the certificate. Arbitration is a proper hearing with evidence and witnesses, and the commissioner's award is binding.
• Retrenchment disputes and automatically unfair dismissals, such as dismissal for pregnancy, union membership or a protected strike, usually go to the Labour Court instead. The referral to the Labour Court must be made within 90 days of the certificate (section 191(11)). An employee retrenched alone, or by an employer with fewer than ten employees, may choose CCMA arbitration instead (section 191(12)).

Compensation for an ordinary unfair dismissal is capped at 12 months' remuneration. For an automatically unfair dismissal it is capped at 24 months.

A worked example

This example is illustrative. Lerato is a warehouse supervisor earning R14 000 a month. On Friday 6 March she is called into the office, accused of allowing stock to leave without paperwork, and told not to come back. There is no charge sheet and no hearing. Her last day is 6 March, so her 30 day deadline is 5 April.

On Monday 9 March she asks HR in writing for written reasons and a copy of the disciplinary code. On 12 March she downloads the LRA 7.11, fills in the employer's registered name from her payslip, describes the dismissal in half a page, and asks for reinstatement or compensation. She emails it to HR and to the managing director, keeps the sent emails, and files it online on 13 March, seven days after the dismissal.

Conciliation is set down for early April. The employer offers two months' salary, R28 000, to settle. Lerato thinks about the maximum award of 12 months' remuneration, which is R168 000, but also about the fact that the employer's case on the reason for dismissal may be strong and that a procedural failure on its own tends to attract a lower award. She asks for the offer to be improved and settles at three months, R42 000, paid within 14 days. Her case is over within six weeks of the dismissal. Had she refused and gone to arbitration, the award could have been higher or lower, and it would have taken months. There is no right answer, only an informed one.

What to do this week

1. Write your timeline today, with dates, names and what was said, while it is fresh.
2. Diarise day 30 from your last day of employment and treat it as day 25 to give yourself margin.
3. Ask your employer in writing for written reasons, your disciplinary record, and the disciplinary code.
4. Find the employer's legal name and physical address on your contract, payslip or IRP5.
5. Check whether a bargaining council covers your sector by phoning the CCMA on 0861 16 16 16.
6. Download or collect the LRA 7.11 and complete it in plain language.
7. Serve it, prove service, and file it. Keep the stamped or electronic confirmation.
8. Apply for UIF at the same time. A UIF claim does not affect your dispute.

Documents to gather

Gather these now, before memories fade and before your access to work email ends: your contract, your last six payslips, the charge sheet or notice of allegations if there was one, the hearing notes and outcome, any warnings on your record, the dismissal letter, your own timeline, the names and contact details of anyone who saw what happened, and any messages or emails about the incident. Add your referral form, the proof of service and the CCMA's confirmation of filing to the same folder as you go. In most cases the employer must prove the dismissal was fair, but you still have to prove that you were dismissed, so the paperwork matters.

A realistic timeline

• Day 0. Dismissal. Your last day of employment.
• Days 1 to 25. Request reasons, gather documents, complete and serve the referral, file it with the CCMA.
• Day 30. Referral deadline. After this you need condonation.
• Roughly 30 days after filing. Conciliation, usually a single morning. Settlement or a certificate of non resolution.
• Within 90 days of the certificate. Request arbitration on the LRA 7.13. Do not wait the full 90 days.
• Some weeks to a few months later. Arbitration hearing, one day or more.
• About 14 days after the hearing closes. The award.

See how long a CCMA case takes for what stretches these numbers out.

Common mistakes and what they cost

• Using the trading name instead of the legal name. The notice does not reach the employer, the date is lost, and weeks go by.
• No proof of service. The referral is sent back, and if you are near day 30 that can push you into a condonation application.
• Waiting for the internal appeal to finish. An appeal outcome that upholds the dismissal may start a fresh 30 days, but do not rely on it. Refer within 30 days of the dismissal and withdraw later if the appeal succeeds.
• Writing a ten page referral. The summary is not your evidence. A long, angry narrative gives the employer material and buries the point.
• Not attending conciliation. A case can be dismissed if you fail to appear after proper notice.
• Signing a settlement you have not read. It is binding and it ends the dispute.

If you cannot afford an attorney

Referring a dispute to the CCMA is free. There is no filing fee at any stage. Phone 0861 16 16 16 for the nearest office, or read our guide on how much the CCMA costs for the costs that can still arise, such as an attorney at arbitration.

Free help is available from the CCMA itself, from your trade union if you belong to one, from a bargaining council where one covers your sector, from a Department of Employment and Labour office, and from Legal Aid South Africa on 0800 110 110, which applies a means test. Legal representation at arbitration for misconduct and incapacity dismissals is not automatic and the commissioner decides whether to allow it, so the process is built for people who represent themselves. A union official or a fellow employee may appear with you at no cost.