Alcohol in the workplace. The basis for any contract of employment is that the employee will render a service to the employer in return for (usually) payment of a sum of money. Linked to this is the understanding that the employee will devote his full attention to his work, at least during working hours. It may be argued that an employee who arrives at work under the influence Seriousness There can be no doubt in anyone’s mind that this is a fairly serious This being said, the seriousness of a specific offence will vary greatly The same can be said of the offence of drinking on the job / coming to Certainly in any job which involves the driving of a vehicle, an employee In terms of the regulations to the Health and Occupational Safety Act, Proof In terms of the Constitution, no person who is accused of an offence It must be noted that it is not fair to dismiss an employee on the basis So now the problem arises of how to prove drunkenness. We must remember For traffic purposes, a person is considered “drunk” or “under If breathalyzer equipment is available, it should be used only by a person As the use of a breathalyzer may constitute a breach of the employees Sanction As with any offence, the next question is ‘what is the appropriate punishment’. As the seriousness of the “crime” will vary from industry to It should be noted that dismissal is a serious step and should only be An employer is obliged to take an employees personal situation into account All this being said, cases may arise where the company has no choice A Case Study. A recent Arbitration case which dealt with this issue was Le Roy and In this case, the employee was a pilot and was dismissed after being At the time of the incident, no breathalyzer tests were taken and only This was considered a dismissible offence due to the fact that many lives The Commissioner found the employees conduct to be “highly irresponsible” |