- Title
- Alcoholism and being under the influence of alcohol
- Creator
- Maliti, Zandisile
- Subject
- Alcoholism and employment
- Subject
- Misconduct in office
- Subject
- Alcoholism -- Diagnosis
- Date Issued
- 2016
- Date
- 2016
- Type
- Thesis
- Type
- Masters
- Type
- LLM
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10948/8416
- Identifier
- vital:26354
- Description
- Being under the influence of alcohol at work or during working hours is dealt with as misconduct. On the other hand, in a case where an employee suffers from alcoholism, such a case is treated as incapacity due to ill health. The possibility of overlap between the two has contributed to a misconception. Alcoholism cases, are at times, incorrectly treated as misconduct. The same applies to cases of being under the influence of alcohol where such cases would be treated as incapacity instead of being treated as misconduct. The distinction between alcoholism and being under the influence of alcohol was made clear in Transnet Freight Rail v Transnet Bargaining Council C644/2009 [2011] ZALCJHB (4 March 2011) where the Labour Court held that employers have an obligation of assisting employees who suffer from alcoholism with counselling and rehabilitation. Such an obligation does not arise when an employee, who is not an alcoholic, comes to work under the influence of alcohol. Whilst the nature of work is taken into consideration in determining whether an employee is under the influence of alcohol or not, the major cause of disharmony in the determination is a common defence of having consumed alcohol during a night before and whether the physical observations combined with positive breathalyser test results or on their own are indicative, on the balance of probabilities, that an employee is under the influence of alcohol or not. There is no need for an employee to injure himself or herself or other employees before a determination is made that he or she is under the influence of alcohol. Physical observations combined with breathalyzer test results, can be indicative of an employee that is being under the influence of alcohol. The nature of work should be an aggravating or mitigating factor rather than a determining factor of guilt.
- Format
- iv, 56 leaves
- Format
- Publisher
- Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University
- Publisher
- Faculty of Law
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University
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