Your employees committed an act of dishonesty?
How do I go about the misconduct process?
Do I need to have a disciplinary hearing?
How do I go about the hearing?
How do I make sure I don’t lose the case at the CCMA?
There are two aspects when it comes to company disciplined inquiries: the first aspect is called Procedural Fairness and the second aspect is called Substantive Fairness
Procedural Fairness
Procedural fairness is divided into certain components. The first component is to make sure that you investigate the allegations of misconduct. This means that take the time out to find out whether or not the employee actually committed that misconduct, and by doing so not only will you be complying with the procedure, but you will be gathering evidence of the misconduct.
The next important aspect is to hold a disciplinary hearing. This means that you must have a formal meeting with the employee. Notice to the disciplinary hearing must be provided. You must tell the employee at least 48 hours before the hearing, that you are going to be charging them.
The next important aspect when it comes to disciplinary hearings is to allow the employee an opportunity to prepare for the hearing. If they need certain files, or documents, to consult with other employees, you must give them this opportunity to prepare.
At the disciplinary hearing, give the employee an opportunity to also speak and cross-examine any witnesses that you bring. You must appoint a fair chairperson to make sure that there’s no bias.
In terms of Procedure Fairness, you must give the employee a written outcome of the hearing together with reasons.
Substantive Fairness.
Substantive Fairness deals with the reasons to dismiss an employee. You must have a charge sheet given to the employee when you are formulating the charge sheet. It is important that whatever misconduct the employee committed, you must have the evidence to back up the charges against the employee, and then at the disciplinary hearing, you are going to lead the evidence against the employee.
The other important aspect of Substantive Fairness is to make sure that the charges you are giving against the employee are specific. In other words, put the date, give enough details to the employee and the outcome must be linked to those charges.
In summary
Disciplinary hearings are an important aspect of Labour Law. It is the cornerstone of a misconduct process. The disciplinary inquiry at work is broken up into Procedure and Substantive Fairness. It is important to make sure that you comply with both, in order to protect your company at the CCMA.
(This article is provided for informational purposes only and not to provide legal advice. For more information on the topic, please contact our offices.)
