Too much in till can add up to same offence as too little

One of the main duties of a cashier is to ensure that when the till is cashed up, it must be exactly right. Too much money (being over), as well as too little in the till, can be a serious offence.

In a Labour Appeal Court (LAC) case – Woolworths (Pty) Ltd v South African Commercial Catering and Allied Workers Union and Others (JA38/15) [2016] ZALAC 41; (2016) 37 ILJ 2831 (LAC); [2017] 2 BLLR 137 (LAC) (27 July 2016) – this matter gets attention from the Court of Appeal. This case gives guidance in similar matters. the employee was negligent but that the commissioner had made a great error.

Despite evidence showing that the employee had previous warnings for till shortages, the commissioner had found she was a first-time offender.

The employee had submitted that she had no previous warnings.

The LAC found this to be dishonest and false. Documentation showed that the employee had five previous warnings and was on a final written warning for the last incident.

Accordingly, the LAC found that the commissioner’s award was unreasonable. The dismissal was ruled to be substantively fair.

So, the bottom line is that, provided you follow a process of corrective discipline, too much money or too little in your till is a problem!

Jonathan Goldberg is CEO of Global Business Solutions

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