Dismissals for misconduct conducted outside the employer's premises, particularly with misconduct that takes place on social media.
South African labour laws have been amended several times since 1994 and continues to change with the circumstances employers and employees face daily. Given the pandemic, the place where employees render services in terms of the employment contract is not always at the employer's premises. The Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 (LRA) is a key piece of employment legislation in South Africa, designed to promote fair practices and protect the rights of employees. One of its primary provisions is the protection against unfair dismissals, which appears in section 185 and further supported by Schedule 8: The Code of Good Practice: Dismissal. Research shows that some employees are dismissed unfairly for misconduct that takes place outside the employers' premises particularly when it comes to misconduct in relation to social media. The objective of this research is to determine the extent to which South African laws protect employees from dismissals based on misconduct conducted outside the employer’s premises, particularly with reference to misconduct that takes place on social media. This research contains a comparison between the legislative framework in South Africa and Australia to establish whether the South African laws that aim to protect employees against unfair dismissals on the ground of misconduct should be amended and/or supplemented.
Covid-19, Dismissals, Misconduct, Social media, Employment
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