Workplace Safety: Is It A Disciplinary Offence To Come To Work While Sick?

In DHL Supply Chain (Pty) Ltd v Sauls F N.O. and Others, the Labour Court ("Court") was called upon to determine whether, amongst others, it was fair to dismiss an employee who knowingly and deliberately exposed others at the workplace to a life-threatening virus. Although the facts arose in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the principles that the court outlined have much wider application to employment relationships generally. We unpack them below.

In this case, a tow truck driver was charged, amongst other things, with failing to self-isolate whilst awaiting the outcome of a COVID-19 test and thus wilfully endangering the safety of others in the workplace. A commissioner of the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration found that the employee had been unfairly dismissed, from both a procedural and a substantive perspective.