Section 188 of the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995, as amended provides that, to be fair, a dismissal that is not automatically unfair must be for a fair reason and in accordance with a fair procedure. The Dispute Resolution Firm & Mediation Centre provides an independent, suitably qualified, chairperson to chair disciplinary hearings ensuring impartiality and timeous outcome of proceedings.
Employees facing disciplinary hearings are entitled to many rights including that of the proper opportunity to prepare for the hearing in advance, the right to defend themselves against the charges brought and the right to fair labour practice.
On the other hand, employees who are guilty of misconduct cannot escape disciplinary action when the employer exercises its discretion.
Experienced, qualified, and professional disciplinary hearings chairperson at affordable rates in the Western Cape. (Other provinces will attract additional fees for air travel/accommodation/car hire/venue costs).
Motor Industry - We offer a specialist chairperson with 35 years’ experience in the franchise and non-franchise motor industry.
We have Labour Law experts who have extensive experience in chairing disciplinary hearings and as an alternative in keeping with our philosophy of “Alternative Dispute Resolution” we offer unique Workplace Mediation to avoid costly dismissals.
For SME’s who cannot justify the employment of a full-time Human Resource Manager – we offer the ideal alternative, either on a retainer fee or adhoc basis, a mere phone call/email away.
Our advice do not handle disciplinary issues inhouse.
Can you afford your managers to sit in protracted disciplinary hearings?
Consider the manager’s time costs to chair a disciplinary hearing and consider the non-impartiality.
I makes sense to outsource and obtain a neutral, experienced arbitrator to do the job for you in a way which protects your company from further legal referrals.
Disciplinary Hearing Protocols
- We provide independent, experienced, and well-trained labour law practitioners to chair disciplinary hearings.
- Clients are charged per hour only.
- The proceedings are recorded if required.
- Disciplinary chairpersons hear the evidence and make a decision, based on principles of law and fairness, if the employee is guilty or not and if so, what the appropriate sanction should be.
- The Employer mandates the chairperson to make a recommendation or final decision on the sanction.
- The chairperson will present the client with a typed record of the proceedings, which includes the finding and any sanction. This does not include a transcript of all the evidence but a summary of the pertinent evidence in the finding.
- Should the matter proceed to the CCMA or Bargaining Council, we represent the Employer.
Grogan in Workplace Law (7 ed) at 177 states:
“…the officer presiding at a disciplinary hearing must not only be impartial in fact, but also that there should be no grounds for even suspecting that his or her decision might be shaped by extraneous factors, even if this is in fact not actually the case”