Professor Hugo Pienaar is a Director in our Employment Law practice. He has vast experience in employment law and litigation and dispute resolution matters and represents most of the major corporations in South Africa as well as international corporates such as Nissan, L'Oreal etc. Hugo publishes on a regular basis on various employment law topics and has done a number of television and radio interviews.
CAREER
Hugo Pienaar acted as a judge in the Labour Court, lectured part time in employment law subject to post-graduates at various tertiary institutions such as the North-West University, the Da Vinci Institute, and similarly, for the Law Society of South Africa. He has contributed to textbooks and served on the government task team established to compile labour legislation for the State. Hugo has led a study group to Malaysia and Australia to research the application of affirmative action. He has also advised on and helped to develop a labour framework for a major institution in the United Arab Emirates. In addition, Hugo has advised on labour framework for a Japanese based motor manufacturing company and visited the Jakarta, Bangkok and other international plants for such purpose. He has contributed to a United Nations training programme for the University of Stellenbosch Business School. He has developed alternative modules for TES employment based on international principles which successfully applied in the SA Labour market. Hugo has been instrumental in settling various legal principles through case law over the span of his career.
Hugo holds a professorship at the North-West University and is mentioned in over 1000 international academic papers on Academia.edu, the leading US-based commercial social networking website for academics; has published several articles in the SABPP Women’s Report magazine of the University of Stellenbosch Business School; and regularly publishes articles on various employment law topics. More recently, the United Nations Global Compact conducted an interview with Hugo, encompassing topics such as maternity leave and legislative changes to parental leave. In addition, he is involved in the training of CCMA Commissioners at the North-West University.
MEMBERSHIP
The South African Society for Labour Law (SASLAW)
EXPERIENCE
Advising various local and international corporates
Establishing new legal principles in labour law with regard to strikes and enforcing of restraint applications
Advising on mergers and acquisitions as well as restructuring of companies
Collective bargaining and facilitating negotiations
Employment equity, equal pay and discrimination disputes
Implementation of affirmative action programmes
Facilitating and mediating disputes
Involved in several high profile reported High Court, Labour Court, Labour Appeal Court and Constitutional Court judgments.
Handling and interdicting of strikes and strike related actions
Labour court, labour appeal court and CCMA appearances
Managing restructuring, retrenchments, and redundancies
Chairing and prosecuting disciplinary hearings.
Strategising on all employment related matters
PRESENTATION AND PUBLICATIONS
Advising on TES and alternative models
Runs training workshops on various topics such as strike strategies, disciplinary enquiries, arbitrations etc
A speaker at the Annual Labour Law Conference; the IMPSA Conference; SASLAW; the HR Conference as well as the Law Society
Publishes chapters in the SABPP Women's Report for the University of Johannesburg and Stellenbosch Business School (International recognition on papers).
Contributes to articles to the Road Freight Industry Newsletters
Contributes to articles in the Without Prejudice Magazine.
Regular contributor to Lexis Nexus
MARKET RECOGNITION
Chambers Global ranked Hugo in Band 1.
He was the exclusive South African winner of the ILO Client Choice Awards 2017 and 2019 in the employment and benefits category.
