What to Do if an Employer Refuses to Comply with a CCMA Award?

If an employer fails to comply with a CCMA arbitration award, the employee cannot enforce the award directly — a CCMA arbitration award is not itself a court order. The employee must first apply to the CCMA for a certificate of non-compliance under section 138(9) of the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 (LRA), and then apply to the Labour Court under section 143 of the LRA to make the award an order of the Labour Court. Once it is a Labour Court order, normal court enforcement mechanisms apply: a sheriff can attach the employer’s assets, the employer can be cited for contempt of court, and any further delay can attract punitive costs orders against the employer personally.

What a CCMA Arbitration Award Is — and Why It Isn’t Itself a Court Order

A CCMA arbitration award is binding on the parties under section 138(1) of the LRA, but it is not automatically an order of the Labour Court. The binding effect sits in the award itself; the enforcement effect has to be added by the Labour Court. This is the most common point of confusion for employees: the employer can refuse to pay, and the employee cannot simply walk to the sheriff with a CCMA award in hand.

Two slightly different documents can come out of the CCMA — an arbitration award (after a contested hearing) and a settlement agreement registered as an award. Both are enforceable through the same statutory chain, with section 142A (settlement agreements) following the same enforcement pathway via section 143.

When the Employer’s Obligation to Comply Starts

An award becomes enforceable as soon as it is issued by the commissioner and communicated to the parties — section 138(7) of the LRA gives it effect from that date. The 14-day window to apply for a section 138(9) compliance certificate only opens once the 14 days from the award’s date have passed without compliance; an employee can apply sooner only if the employer has expressly refused to comply.

If the employer applies to set aside or vary the award, the compliance certificate can still be sought, but the Labour Court will ordinarily suspend the section 143 application until the review is finalised.

Step-by-Step: How to Enforce a CCMA Award Against a Non-Compliant Employer

1. Wait for the 14-day window from the date of the award. Section 138(9) requires the Commissioner to issue the certificate on application, but the application is conventionally only made after the 14 days have elapsed without payment.
2. Apply to the CCMA for a section 138(9) certificate of non-compliance, attaching the award and proof of non-payment. The Commissioner issues the certificate confirming the award and stating the amount outstanding. Section 142A applies the same procedure to settlement agreements registered as awards.
3. File an application to the Labour Court under section 143 of the LRA to have the award made an order of the Labour Court. The application is brought on Form 7.17 (the section 143 application form) and supported by the section 138(9) certificate and the original award.
4. Serve the application on the employer in the prescribed manner. Failing to serve correctly is the single most common reason section 143 applications are delayed.
5. Attend the Labour Court hearing. Section 143 applications are ordinarily dealt with on the papers, but the employer may file opposing affidavits and force a hearing on the ordinary court roll.
6. Obtain the order. Once granted, the CCMA award becomes an order of the Labour Court and is enforceable as such. The order also typically records the amount outstanding, including interest and costs.
7. Enforce the order if the employer still refuses to pay. The employee can approach the sheriff for attachment of the employer’s movable assets, issue a garnishee against the employer’s bank account, or apply to cite the employer’s responsible person for contempt of court.
8. Claim contempt and punitive costs. An employer who continues to refuse to comply after the Labour Court order is now in contempt of a court order, exposing the directors or responsible persons personally to fines and, in serious cases, committal proceedings.

What the Labour Court Can Do if the Employer Still Refuses

Enforcement Tool	What It Does	When to Use
Sheriff attachment	Seizes and sells employer movables (furniture, equipment, stock) to satisfy the debt	First practical step once the Labour Court order is in hand
Garnishee order	Freezes a third party (typically the employer’s bank) and directs payment of the debt from the employer’s account	When the employer’s assets are hidden or shifting between bank accounts
Contempt of court	Cites the responsible person (director, owner) for wilful refusal to comply; fines and (in extreme cases) committal	Last resort — punitive and reserved for flagrant refusal
Liquidation / winding-up	A creditor with a Labour Court judgment can pressure the employer into liquidation; in a close corporation, this may trigger the member’s personal liability under the Close Corporations Act	Strategic pressure — not a first step
Costs orders on a punitive scale	The Labour Court has discretion to award costs de bonis propriis or attorney-and-client scale against a defaulting party	Used alongside any of the above to signal the seriousness of the non-compliance

What the Employer Can Do (and Why It Usually Doesn’t Help)

• Review application — the employer can apply to the Labour Court to set aside the award under section 145 of the LRA, but only on narrow grounds (the commissioner misconducted themselves, exceeded powers, or committed a gross irregularity), and the application does not automatically suspend enforcement unless the court orders it.
• Rescission — the employer can apply for rescission of the section 138(9) certificate in limited circumstances (the employer was not served, the award has already been complied with, or the certificate was issued in error), but the bar is high.
• Application to vary or suspend — in exceptional cases the employer can apply to the Labour Court to vary the award or suspend the section 143 process; this is unusual and ordinarily requires new evidence not available at arbitration.

The practical effect for the employee: an employer’s challenge slows enforcement but rarely avoids it. The section 143 order can be granted in default of opposition, and the underlying debt continues to accrue interest under section 143(3) of the LRA.

Costs, Timeframes, and What Affects Them

Cost and timing depend largely on whether the employer opposes and where the matter is filed.

Stage	Typical Timeframe	Cost Driver
CCMA — section 138(9) certificate	Quick administrative turnaround once application is filed	Modest CCMA fee for issuing the certificate
Labour Court — section 143 application	Two to four months (unopposed); six to twelve months or longer (opposed)	Court filing fees set under the Labour Court rules and scaling with the amount claimed
Enforcement (sheriff, garnishee, contempt)	Varies — sheriff attachment is the fastest practical step	Sheriff fees, garnishee process costs, attorney-and-client costs

What affects the timeline most: whether the employer files opposing papers (most cases), whether the employer brings a review application in parallel (slows everything), and which Labour Court seat is hearing the matter (Johannesburg’s roll is heavily congested). Attorney-and-client costs are quoted on a per-file basis after the initial consultation, and a specialist labour-law practice will give an upfront cost conversation once the CCMA award and section 138(9) certificate have been reviewed.

What to Bring to the First Consultation With a Labour Lawyer

• The original CCMA arbitration award (or the settlement agreement registered as an award)
• The CCMA case number and the commissioner’s name
• Proof of any partial payment by the employer
• Any correspondence from the employer refusing to comply or indicating a refusal
• Any employer filing that challenges the award (a review or rescission application, if already issued)
• ID document and a signed power of attorney authorising the attorney to act

Filing in Gauteng: The Johannesburg Seat of the Labour Court

For employees and former employees in Gauteng, the section 143 application to make a CCMA award an order of the Labour Court is filed at the Johannesburg seat of the Labour Court in Braamfontein, which serves Gauteng and parts of neighbouring provinces. The CCMA itself has regional offices in Johannesburg and Pretoria for conciliation and arbitration; for arbitration-award enforcement, however, the right venue is the Labour Court, and the section 138(9) compliance certificate is issued by the Commissioner who issued the original award — not by the regional CCMA office. Employees outside Gauteng use their local Labour Court seat, but the procedural chain under the LRA is identical nationwide.

Burger Huyser Attorneys’ Labour Law practice is led by specialist consultant Marius Ferreira and operates out of the firm’s Gauteng branches; the head office in Linden, Randburg is the practical first point of contact for a new CCMA-award enforcement matter, with file work run through the general litigation practice where the section 143 application and any subsequent Labour Court enforcement steps require motion-court procedural discipline.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a CCMA arbitration award automatically a court order?

No. A CCMA arbitration award is binding on the parties under section 138(1) of the LRA, but it is not automatically a court order. The employee must first apply to the CCMA for a section 138(9) compliance certificate, and then apply to the Labour Court under section 143 of the LRA to make the award an order of the Labour Court before ordinary court enforcement mechanisms (sheriff attachment, garnishee, contempt) can be used.

How long does it take to enforce a CCMA award?

After the 14-day window has elapsed from the date of the award, the section 138(9) certificate is typically issued quickly. The section 143 application in the Labour Court is the slower step — a clean, unopposed application can be finalised in two to four months, but an opposed application or a parallel review application by the employer can stretch the timeline to six to twelve months or longer.

Can an employer refuse to comply with a CCMA award and get away with it?

No, but enforcement requires the employee to take the formal steps — section 138(9) certificate and section 143 Labour Court application — and follow through with sheriff-led enforcement if the employer continues to refuse. An employer who persists in refusing after a Labour Court order is in contempt of court, exposing the responsible person (directors or owners) personally to fines and, in extreme cases, committal proceedings.

What if the employer applies to set aside the CCMA award?

An employer can apply to the Labour Court to set aside (review) a CCMA award under section 145 of the LRA, but only on narrow grounds — commissioner misconduct, excess of powers, or a gross irregularity. The review application does not automatically suspend enforcement; the employer must apply separately for a suspension order, and the Labour Court will only grant it on a strong showing that the award was wrongly granted.

What does a section 138(9) certificate actually do?

The section 138(9) certificate is issued by the Commissioner who issued the original award and confirms that the award has not been complied with, stating the amount outstanding. It is the prerequisite document for a section 143 application — without the certificate, the Labour Court will not entertain the application to make the award a court order.

Can I get the directors personally liable if the company refuses to pay a CCMA award?

Not directly under the LRA itself, but once the CCMA award becomes a Labour Court order, the order can be enforced against the company using sheriff and garnishee mechanisms. If the company continues to refuse and the directors are personally responsible for the non-compliance, contempt of court proceedings can be brought against the responsible individual personally — exposing them to fines and, in serious cases, committal.

What happens to the CCMA award if I get a settlement agreement at the CCMA instead of an arbitration award?

A settlement agreement signed at the CCMA and registered as an award (or a settlement agreement signed on Form 7.18) is treated under section 142A of the LRA; it is binding and enforceable through the same section 143 process — first a section 138(9) compliance certificate (or its section 142A equivalent), then a section 143 application to the Labour Court.

How much does it cost to enforce a CCMA award against a non-compliant employer?

Costs depend on whether the employer opposes the section 143 application and whether enforcement steps (sheriff, garnishee, contempt) become necessary. Court filing fees are set under the Labour Court rules and scale with the amount claimed; attorney-and-client costs are quoted on a per-file basis. Burger Huyser Attorneys’ Labour Law practice gives a transparent cost conversation up front after the initial review of the CCMA award and the section 138(9) certificate.

Where is Burger Huyser’s Labour Law practice based, and which office should I contact?

The Labour Law practice is led by specialist consultant Marius Ferreira and operates out of the firm’s Gauteng branches. The head office is at 49 First Avenue, Linden, Randburg, 2195, telephone 011 888 0246 (mobile/after-hours 061 516 6878), open Monday to Friday 7:30am to 4:30pm. Section 143 Labour Court applications for Gauteng-based employers are filed in the Johannesburg seat of the Labour Court in Braamfontein.

Need a labour-law attorney to enforce a CCMA award? If an employer is refusing to comply with a CCMA award and you need a labour-law attorney to drive the enforcement — section 138(9) certificate, section 143 Labour Court application, sheriff attachment or contempt if necessary — contact Burger Huyser Attorneys’ Labour Law practice on 011 888 0246 (after-hours 061 516 6878) or visit the head office at 49 First Avenue, Linden, Randburg, 2195. The firm carries a 4.8/5 average across 250+ Google reviews (Trustindex verified “Top Rated Law Firm in South Africa”) and fields this work through specialist labour-law consultant Marius Ferreira in coordination with the firm’s general litigation practice for the Labour Court stage. Initial consultations are booked through the head office directly; bring your CCMA award (or settlement agreement registered as an award), the case number, and any correspondence from the employer refusing to comply.