{"id":2727,"date":"2023-06-09T11:54:25","date_gmt":"2023-06-09T09:54:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/?p=2727"},"modified":"2023-06-09T11:54:25","modified_gmt":"2023-06-09T09:54:25","slug":"the-disciplinary-hearing-a-simple-legal-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/index.php\/2023\/06\/09\/the-disciplinary-hearing-a-simple-legal-process\/","title":{"rendered":"The disciplinary hearing \u2013 a simple (legal) process"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"595\" height=\"208\" src=\"https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/LawAtWork-Newsletter-HEADER-2022.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2728\" srcset=\"https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/LawAtWork-Newsletter-HEADER-2022.jpg 595w, https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/LawAtWork-Newsletter-HEADER-2022-300x105.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 595px) 100vw, 595px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A disciplinary hearing is a meeting in the workplace between an employer and an employee where an allegation of misconduct or negligence of an employee is considered. It is not intended to be a formal process like in a Court of law, but the law does prescribe certain basic requirements. According to the principle of natural justice the employee must be given a fair opportunity to state his\/her defence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The purpose of the disciplinary hearing is to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Give the employee the opportunity to provide his\/her version of the alleged offence.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Obtain all relevant evidence concerning the alleged offence.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Reach a just and balanced decision on the employee\u2019s guilt or innocence.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Consider the employee\u2019s disciplinary history.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Modify unacceptable behaviour or poor performance in a progressive manner; and<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Evaluate whether any management or employees\u2019 actions could prevent a recurrence of the inappropriate behaviour or poor performance in future.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In order to successfully prove the case, the employer must show that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>There is a rule in place against this conduct.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The rule is valid and fair.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It is applied consistently.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The employee was aware of the rule.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The employee contravened the rule.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is a duty onemployers to ensure that their employees are made aware of the rulesin the workplace and this is why workplace policies are so important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Where do workplace rules come from?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Constitution which contains the Bill of Rights such as equality and human dignity of all individuals.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Acts that are issued by Parliament, e.g. Labour Relations Act, Basic Conditions of Employment Act, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The employment contract which includes terms and conditions of employment such as hours of work, duties, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>HR policies that companies have to deal with all aspects of conduct in the workplace.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Employers\u2019 Disciplinary Code and Procedures.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Common law, which are the \u201cunwritten\u201d rules of law that has been accepted into South African law from the Roman-Dutch and English legal systems.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Guidance to a fair disciplinary process is found in Schedule 8 of the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995, which is the Code of Good Practice: Dismissal.&nbsp; The code refers to both substantive and procedural fairness aspects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is advisable to consult a reputable labour law practitioner to ensure that your Disciplinary Code is up to date with the latest developments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A disciplinary hearing is a meeting in the workplace between an employer and an employee where an allegation of misconduct or negligence of an employee is considered. It is not &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2727"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2727\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2729,"href":"https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2727\/revisions\/2729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}