If more than 30 days have passed since the dismissal (or 90 days if it is an unfair labour practice) took place, the employee will have to apply for condonation, which is like an extension of the deadline and an application for late submission. If a Bargaining Council will deal with the matter, he or she will need to make an application for condonation and submit this application together with the LRA 7.11 form.

If the CCMA will deal with the matter, the employee can apply for condonation in form LRA 7.11, or the CCMA will ask him or her to fill in condonation forms if they didn’t do it on form LRA 7.11. If the application is late, the CCMA will not process the referral if the employee has not made an application for condonation together with the referral of LRA 7.11 form.

Condonation may be granted if the employee is able to give good reasons for being late with the application. When applying for condonation the employee should focus on the following:

• ‘Degree of lateness’ of the application (how many days/weeks/months late is it) and an explanation of why the application is late.
• The prejudice to the parties
• The likelihood of success of the case
• The measure of ‘public interest’ that applies if the case goes ahead (only if this is appropriate)

Application for condonation must be in the form of an affidavit.

(See: Affidavits)