{"id":2902,"date":"2024-05-30T10:25:42","date_gmt":"2024-05-30T08:25:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/?p=2902"},"modified":"2024-05-30T10:25:42","modified_gmt":"2024-05-30T08:25:42","slug":"the-importance-of-a-job-description","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/index.php\/2024\/05\/30\/the-importance-of-a-job-description\/","title":{"rendered":"THE IMPORTANCE OF A JOB DESCRIPTION!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"358\" src=\"https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/29-05-LawAtWork-Newsletter-HEADER-2024-1024x358.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2903\" srcset=\"https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/29-05-LawAtWork-Newsletter-HEADER-2024-1024x358.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/29-05-LawAtWork-Newsletter-HEADER-2024-300x105.jpg 300w, https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/29-05-LawAtWork-Newsletter-HEADER-2024-768x268.jpg 768w, https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/29-05-LawAtWork-Newsletter-HEADER-2024-1536x536.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/29-05-LawAtWork-Newsletter-HEADER-2024-2048x715.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A job description generally contains essential job requirements, duties, responsibilities, and skills required to play the specific role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We often get asked whether an employee may reject an instruction to perform an activity which is not mentioned in their job description.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>So, why does it happen that some duties are not in a job description?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Except for the fact that it is challenging to capture every element of a role, it is also difficult to predict how a role will develop &#8211; these changes result from internal process enhancements as well as external or environmental changes.&nbsp; It also often happens that specific duties are removed from one employee and allocated to another based on specific skills, personality traits or talents.&nbsp; These developments and changes often result in a situation where job descriptions do not reflect the actual responsibilities attributed to a specific employee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Employees are obligated to obey any reasonable instruction issued by their employer.&nbsp; But if an employee believes the instruction is unlawful or unreasonable, he\/she has the right to refuse to carry it out, however employers may discipline employees who refuse to follow reasonable instructions, which will be seen as insubordination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From an evidence point of view, the employer should confirm the following before any disciplinary measures are applied:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Whether an instruction was in fact given;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>whether the instruction was lawful;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>whether the instruction was reasonable;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>whether the refusal to obey the instruction was serious, and<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>whether it was deliberate and\/or repeated<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After this, the more practical circumstances and factual context must be considered.&nbsp; In the private arbitration case of SATAWU v Auto Carriers (East London branch) [2\u20147] 5 BALR 493 9P, the Arbitrator ruled that the question of whether an employer may instruct an employee to perform tasks allegedly falling outside of his job description depends on &#8211;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">[a] the terms and conditions of the employee&#8217;s contract,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">[b] the nature of the task to be performed,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">[c] the circumstances in which the instruction is given, and<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">[d] the employer&#8217;s operational requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One strategy that employers often use is a \u201ccover all\u201d clause, also referred to as a flexibility clause, is common in job descriptions and employment agreements, for e.g. \u201cyou will be expected to carry out any other duties that may reasonably be required and is in line with, or ancillary to, your main duties\u201d.&nbsp; The reality, however, is that the \u201crelevance\u201d of the newly allocated duties can be challenged by the employee and should therefor be exercised with caution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It&#8217;s a good practice to review and update job descriptions yearly to make sure they&#8217;re still relevant, up to date, and aligned with the company&#8217;s goals and the functions required of the role.&nbsp; However, before doing so an employer should follow a consultation process or negotiation with the employee or their representative\/s and should avoid making any unilateral changes that could result in a breach of contract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you&#8217;re unsure whether you can introduce changes to job descriptions, or need advice on how to add additional responsibilities to an employee&#8217;s day-to-day tasks, you are best advised to contact a reputable labour law consultant.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A job description generally contains essential job requirements, duties, responsibilities, and skills required to play the specific role. We often get asked whether an employee may reject an instruction to &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2904,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsletter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2902","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=2902"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2902\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2905,"href":"https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2902\/revisions\/2905"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law-at-work.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}