{"id":1602,"date":"2022-03-29T22:16:08","date_gmt":"2022-03-29T20:16:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arachne.co.za\/absolutehr.co.za\/?p=1602"},"modified":"2022-03-29T22:16:08","modified_gmt":"2022-03-29T20:16:08","slug":"disciplinary-procedures-sleeping-at-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arachne.co.za\/absolutehr.co.za\/disciplinary-procedures-sleeping-at-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Disciplinary Procedures \u2013 Sleeping at Work"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following the right procedures is essential when disciplining an employee for misconduct, especially if there’s a dismissal involved.<\/p>\n

Not only must you be procedurally fair<\/u> but you must also have a solid reason to dismiss the employee \u2013 known as substantive fairness<\/u>.<\/p>\n

If you do these 2 things right, you\u2019ll make sure that the disciplinary process is fair and will stand up to any scrutiny at the CCMA \u2026. if it goes there.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the outcome of a disciplinary process can quiet easily go \u2018pear shaped\u2019 \u2013 especially when you\u2019re not quite sure what to do.<\/p>\n

This happened to a company called Paper King that dismissed an employee for sleeping on the job. (FOCSWU obo Ndzeku v Paper King CCMA Arbitration WE14519).<\/em><\/p>\n

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Here\u2019s the story<\/h4>\n

This particular employee was hired by the company as a general worker. His job was to sort paper. (Paper King is in the recycling business).<\/p>\n

On one occasion the receptionist found him sleeping at work. She obviously woke him up. And to her utter dismay, the employee swore at her!<\/p>\n

You won\u2019t believe it but the next day, the employee was found sleeping at work again.<\/p>\n

This was too much for the company and the employee was summoned to attend a disciplinary hearing (unfortunately this was not done in writing) where he was dismissed.<\/p>\n

Having left the company, the employee referred the matter to the CCMA as an unfair dismissal.<\/p>\n

At CCMA, the case went to arbitration. During the hearing, the employee claimed that he was never advised to attend a disciplinary hearing. He said that he was merely told by the company to attend a \u2018dismissal notice\u2019.<\/p>\n

He also said that the allegations against him were untrue!!<\/p>\n

At the end of arbitration, the CCMA commissioner made a decision. He found that there was insufficient evidence that a proper disciplinary hearing was held.<\/p>\n

Also that there were not enough substantive grounds on which to justify a guilty verdict i.e. the reason to dismiss the employee was too harsh.<\/p>\n

The employee was ordered by the arbitrator to be reinstated. (You don’t want this to ever happen to you!)<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this story?<\/h4>\n

As a business owner or manager, when you\u2019re dealing with employee misconduct that you feel warrants a dismissal, you must:<\/p>\n