For a business to operate in South Africa without having company policies, procedures and a disciplinary code in place is asking for trouble. However, for many business owners, this is a common practice as they do not deem it necessary to invest their time and resources into something which they have always done without, or they personally don’t believe in. This practice will cost the business in the long term and it is only a matter of time until it comes around to “bite” them.

Policies, Procedures and the Disciplinary Code can be defined simply as the rules that govern the behaviour & conduct of the employee. Furthermore, it communicates the required standards & expectations of the business owner. They safeguard the business and assists greatly with ensuring that all employees of the company are working and behaving in a manner which is aligned to the business owners’ standards & expectations. 

Policies & Procedures are considered to be procedurally fair in the eyes of the Labour Law and therefore in the eyes of the CCMA. Policies & procedures which are lawful, fair and reasonable and applied consistently by the business owner (and/or his/her management team), can save the company at the CCMA as they help defend the case for the company.

Remember at the CCMA the company will always need to prove the following in respect of rules/standards (RS):

1. There were RS in place
2. The RS were fair, reasonable & lawful
3. The employee knew of the RS
4. The company consistently applied the RS

Without policies and procedures, the company cannot prove the above. An employee can simply claim: 

• “I didn’t know”
• “I have always done it”
• “I was not aware”
• “There was no rule, policy, procedure, standard regarding the matter in question.”
• “I was not sure because sometimes it was OK for me to do X”
• “Management knew and nothing happened, and sometimes it was not OK for me to do X & management would shout at me or tell me off or give me a warning, so I was never quite sure if I could or could not do X”

Refer to my previous blog on “The complexities of unfair dismissal”

The problem and frustration lies within the fact that when the business owner fails to acknowledge the importance of establishing and communicating formal Policies & Procedures the employee, by default, determines his/her own standards for work performance, behaviour & conduct. This proves most frustrating to the general day-to-day operation of the business.

If you need help understanding, developing, or restructing your company policies and procedures, contact Alignment Consulting for more information and we’ll set up a consultation with you.