⚡ Quick answer The employment contract mistakes that cost South African employers most are: no written contract at all, copied foreign templates, missing BCEA section 29 particulars, unlawful deduction clauses, notice periods below the BCEA minimums, restraint clauses that are too wide to enforce, and unsigned or outdated contracts. Every one of these surfaces at the worst moment — a dismissal dispute, a resignation battle, a Department inspection — when fixing it is no longer possible. At the CCMA, the contract is exhibit one — and it is remarkable how often it loses the case before the evidence starts. These are the employment contract mistakes commissioners and inspectors see every…