Cape Town - The Labour Court has ordered the Stellenbosch Municipality compensate a former employee, after the municipality failed to overturn a review of a finding by the SA Local Government Bargaining Council (SALGBC) to reinstate her.
In March, 2018 Revonah Anthony, who had been employed by the municipality since 2006, appeared before a disciplinary hearing, after the municipality investigated allegations that she had misrepresented facts surrounding her matric certificate.
Both the disciplinary proceedings and the appeal were conducted in terms of the Disciplinary Procedure Collective Agreement concluded at the SALGBC, of which the municipality is a member.
Anthony was found guilty of the allegations of misconduct against her and dismissed in a ruling dated June 13, 2018.
She appealed the dismissal and the presiding officer at the appeal found that while she was guilty of the complaints against her, a final written warning operative for 12 months with salary increments withheld for a period of a year, would be a more appropriate sanction.
He took into account her personal circumstances and her submissions regarding stress and depression she had experienced. He ordered that she be reinstated and allowed to return to work on August 1, 2018.
After considering the representations made by the Municipal and Allied Trade Union of South Africa (Matusa) on her behalf, the municipality decided to uphold Anthony’s dismissal with effect from October 31, 2018.
The matter then went for arbitration at the SALGBC, where the arbitrator found that the municipality’s human resources manager had conceded that the dismissal was procedurally unfair and, therefore, the onus was on the municipality to prove the dismissal was substantially fair.
Labour Court Judge Hilary Rabkin-Naicker said her judgment took into account the procedural unfairness of Anthony’s dismissal which arose due to the municipality’s disregard of the collective agreement to which it was bound.
“I am of the view that Anthony must be compensated for her unfair dismissal in an amount equivalent to 10 months of her salary at the time of her dismissal.”
She said it was incumbent on the municipality to ensure that the compensation was paid by June 29.