The CCMA recently adjudicated an unfair dismissal dispute in the case of Makhoba v The Magic Company [2024] 6 BALR 632 (CCMA). In this matter, the employer found two employees close to one another who appeared to have been consuming alcohol on the employer’s premises. The employer could not prove that the dismissed employee B indeed consumed alcohol on the employer’s premises.
The employer’s policy specifically provided that “the employee shall immediately report any breach of company standards and rules.” Employee B was aware of this rule in the workplace and could offer no plausible reason for his failure to report employee A’s misconduct as he had had sufficient time to do so.
The CCMA also mentioned that Employee B’s dishonesty during testimony coupled with his lack of remorse and lack of appreciation for the wrongfulness of his conduct pointed to the unlikelihood of the possibility of correcting Employee B’s behaviour through progressive discipline. In light thereof, it was found that the employer’s dismissal was substantively fair. The CCMA thereby confirmed that a failure to report wrongdoing could lead to dismissal as a valid sanction by an employer.
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