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Using your cellphone at work could lead to dismissal
Updated | By Udesha Moodley-Judhoo
Cellphone use can breach an employee's contractual obligations, especially if it is prohibited under health and safety standards.
Engineer holding a smartphone while using heavy machinery/iStock/mnbb
Studies have shown that South Africans struggle to balance their screen time, and recent research by Discovery Insure revealed alarming facts: "One moment of mobile phone use can lead to 52 seconds of distracted driving – essentially driving blind for a full kilometre at 60km/h."
This statistic underscores the risk of losing focus when we use our cellphones because it shifts our attention away from the task at hand.
In the workplace, the consequences of phone use can also be serious. Three recent cases in the Labour Court have highlighted that using a phone at work can lead to dismissal. Of course, this depends on company policies at your workplace and whether phone use is permitted.
According to a BusinessTech article, "South Africans can be dismissed for using their phones at work, but employers have to be able to show that their policies and rules are reasonable and valid."
In the 'Mostert v Overberg Agri-Bedrywe (Pty) Ltd' case that reached the Labour Court, "an employee was called upon to face three disciplinary charges, one of them being a failure to comply with safety rules and standards".
This stemmed from a rule that machinery
should be switched off when using a cellphone. The employee allegedly
breached the rule, resulting in an injury. The Commissioner at the CCMA
ruled that the dismissal was fair, but the employee took the case to the Labour Court.
The court upheld the decision of dismissal because it was found that the employee had used his cellphone while operating machinery on several occasions.
BusinessTech also notes that "the use of a phone was linked to the injury and that the employer had previously warned its employees about the safety risks of using a cellphone".
In another case, an employee was dismissed for breaching a rule that didn't allow the use of cellphones in a non-demarcated area.
The Labour Court held up the dismissal, saying "that the purpose of the rule was to ensure compliance with safety requirements and designed to avoid injuries in a hazardous industry".
However, in a third case, the Labour Court sided in favour of the employee who was dismissed for using the phone while operating a tractor on a farm.
The CCMA and the court felt that the employee's conduct constituted misconduct but could be rectified with the employer's offer of "progressive discipline". No harm was caused here as the employee was driving a tractor on a farm.
"It is clear from these judgements, and similar judgements in the past, that employers are entitled to implement disciplinary rules and policies related to the use of cellphones in the workplace, where these can, inter alia, be justified on the grounds of health and safety,” said the ENS experts.
In short, your employer should determine your use of a cellphone at your workplace in the rules and policies governing your conduct as an employee. This is directly linked to health and safety considerations in the above examples, but that doesn't mean that's set in stone.
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