As absenteeism continues to be a problem in the workplace, employers might wonder if unauthorised absenteeism for one day may warrant a dismissal.

In the matter of Litha Malimba v Sun International Management Limited and others, JR1594/18 (delivered 23 January 2021), the Labour Court was called to decide whether an employee’s failure to report for duty – for one day – warranted a dismissal.

On 26 January 2018, the employee reported for work without his staff ID card. He was sent back home to fetch his staff ID card and instructed to return to work the following day. On 27 January 2018, the employee failed to report for work and did not inform management. The employee was charged with absenteeism and he was dismissed. Unhappy with the outcome, the employee referred an unfair dismissal dispute to the CCMA challenging the fairness of his dismissal. He was not successful at the CCMA and he launched a review application at the Labour Court.

The Labour Court noted that the offence of absenteeism requires fault on the part of an employee, and in considering the fairness of a dismissal in such cases, the Commissioner was required to examine factors such as the duration of the absence, the nature of the employee’s job, previous warnings, the reason for absence, and whether the employee attempted to contact the Employer during the period of absence. In this case, the employee intentionally chose not to inform management of his whereabouts and the employee was already on a final written warning for absenteeism. 

 The employee then refused to sign a document authorising the employer to deduct his salary for one day, as an alternative to a disciplinary action. The Labour Court considered the employee’s lack of honesty, accountability and multiple prior written warnings and dismissed his review application. Dismissal was upheld.  

In conclusion: It is clearly noted from this case that absenteeism for one day can be viewed as serious misconduct depending on the facts of the case, if corrective action taken against the employee in the past had not yielded desired results, dismissal can be the only option left. In this case, the employee was already on a final written warning which explained that the employer has exhausted all avenues in trying to correct the employee’s behaviour.