Most people find out about the 30 days on day 31. By then the question has changed from what happened to you into whether you can be excused for being late, and those are two very different conversations to have with a commissioner.

This guide explains how the period is counted, what happens if you are already outside it, and what to do first if you are not certain of your date. It explains the law in general terms. It is not advice about your own case.

The short version

  • Unfair dismissal: 30 days from the date of dismissal.
  • Unfair labour practice: 90 days from the act or omission, or from when you became aware of it.
  • Discrimination under the Employment Equity Act: 6 months from the act or omission.

If you are past your period you can still refer, but you have to apply for condonation at the same time. That is covered in Missed the 30 days? What CCMA condonation actually requires.

When does the clock actually start?

The period runs from the date of dismissal. In most cases that is the last day you were employed, which is often not the same day you were told.

Three situations worth separating:

You were dismissed with immediate effect. The date of dismissal is that day.

You were dismissed with notice and you worked the notice. The date of dismissal is generally the day the notice period ended, not the day you received the letter.

You were paid in lieu of notice. This is where people most often get the date wrong, because the money arrives later and feels like the end. Check what your letter says about your last day of employment.

Three dates that people commonly confuse with the date of dismissal, and that do not start the clock on their own:

  • The day you were suspended.
  • The day of your disciplinary hearing.
  • The day your final payment reflected in your bank account.

If your letter is unclear about your last day, ask your employer in writing to confirm it. Doing that on day 3 is a short email. Doing it on day 29 is a problem.

How the days are counted

The 30 days are calendar days, not working days. Weekends and public holidays fall inside the period rather than pausing it.

There are technical rules about which day counts as day one and what happens when the last day falls on a weekend or a public holiday. Those rules matter and they are exactly the kind of detail that is worth getting from the CCMA directly or from someone qualified, rather than from any website including this one. The safe approach is to treat your deadline as earlier than you think it is, and to refer well before it.

Nothing is gained by using the full 30 days. A referral made on day 8 is not weaker than one made on day 29.

What happens if you are already past 30 days

You can still refer. The CCMA will not refuse to accept a late referral, but the lateness has to be dealt with before anyone looks at whether your dismissal was fair. You apply for condonation, which is a request that the CCMA excuse the delay.

Condonation is not automatic and it is not a formality. In broad terms you will be asked to address how late you are, why you were late, whether your case has reasonable prospects, and what effect the delay has on both sides.

Being four days late for a reason you can evidence is a very different application from being four months late because you were waiting to hear back from someone. Neither is hopeless, and neither is granted as a matter of course.

Read next: Missed the 30 days? What CCMA condonation actually requires.

Why the deadline exists at all

It helps to understand that the period is not an administrative hurdle invented to catch people out. Dismissal disputes are meant to be resolved quickly, while evidence is fresh, while witnesses still work there, and while reinstatement is still a realistic outcome. A dispute referred two years later is harder to decide fairly for everyone, including you.

That is also why lateness is treated seriously rather than waved through.

What to do today

Three things, in this order, and none of them cost anything.

1. Write down the date you were dismissed and keep it somewhere you will not lose it. A note on your phone is fine. If you are unsure of the date, use the earliest plausible one until you have confirmed it.

2. Ask your employer in writing for your dismissal letter and your final payslip if you do not have them. Keep the message you send, not only the reply.

3. Work out your deadline before anything else, because it decides how much time you have for every other decision. Our free deadline check does this in about a minute.

If you want to understand whether what happened to you was unfair at all, start with Dismissed without a hearing: is that unfair? or What to do in the first 48 hours after being dismissed.

A note on where this leaves you

Knowing your deadline does not tell you whether your case is strong. Those are separate questions and it is worth keeping them separate in your head. Plenty of people refer in time and lose, and some of them would have been better off knowing early that their case was weak.

FairCase exists to answer the second question honestly, including when the honest answer is that you have little chance. The deadline check is free either way.