Be careful when dealing with disruptive employees

3rd January 2022

Be careful when dealing with disruptive employees

Employees who behave in a disruptive manner might do so for a variety of reasons including:

Disruptive behaviour at the workplace can be seriously damaging to the effectiveness of business operations and can even result in losses for the employer. For example, disruptive behaviour can cause:

It is therefore most important that the employer acts swiftly yet within the law in order to minimise the damage and send a strong message that such behaviour will not be tolerated. Especially where an employee’s disruptive behaviour is habitual the employer needs to follow the correct disciplinary procedure to prove that the employee is guilty. Otherwise there is a danger of the disruptive employee being reinstated by the CCMA, Labour Court or bargaining council.

In the case of Mofokeng vs Afrikaans Import and Export cc (2001, 11 BALR 1184) the employee was dismissed for disrupting the workplace after he had been caught under the influence of alcohol and had refused to obey the instructions of a superior. However, the employer reinstated the employee as it wanted to give him one more chance and commuted the dismissal to a final warning. Later the employee was again dismissed, this time for driving a forklift under the influence of alcohol, damaging the employer’s property with the forklift, smashing the windows of the company quarters in which he lived and loudly threatening management while the owner was on an international telephone call. Instead of calling a disciplinary hearing the employer fired the employee on the spot. The CCMA stated that the existence of the final warning did not exempt the employer from holding a disciplinary hearing.

Employees are advised, if they are aggrieved by anything at work, not to disrupt the workplace lest they end up out on the street. Instead, aggrieved employees should lodge formal grievances and/or CCMA disputes.

Employers are advised, when faced with ‘disruptive employees to:

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Written by Ivan Israelstam, Chief Executive of Labour Law Management Consulting. He may be contacted on (011) 888-7944 or 0828522973 or on e-mail address: ivan@labourlawadvice.co.za. Go to: www.labourlawadvice.co.za.