Alcohol - back in the spotlight

Over the lockdown, alcohol has been in the spotlight with government’s two bans on liquor sales. As an employer, if you require that your employees report to work with no alcohol in their system, and you insert this clause in your workplace policies, if they arrive at work with alcohol in their bloodstream, this is a dismissible offence. Period, no matter how much the employees may argue their point.

The case of Trower / Everstar Industries (Pty) Ltd — (2020) 29 CCMA 8.11.1 also reported at [2020] 9 BALR 1013 (CCMA) illustrates this situation.

Facts of the case

The employee was dismissed after an administered breathalyser test showed that there was alcohol in his bloodstream. His defence was that the test results were either incorrect or were the readings of another employee. He also said that he had taken cough mixture and had a couple of drinks the night before reporting for duty. Four offences in one.

The arbitrator concluded that this was a case of misconduct. The employer had a zero-tolerance policy and had consistently dismissed employees who reported for duty with alcohol in their bloodstreams. The arbitrator was justified because the workplace was dangerous.

The arbitrator found that employees were free to drink after working hours but they were obliged to ensure that they did not report for work with alcohol in their bloodstreams. The employee had infringed a valid and reasonable rule which would be undermined if he were to be reinstated. His dismissal was ruled fair.

The application was dismissed.

This shows a case of a clear rule which is justified by operational requirements and was consistently applied. The question then arises if similar policies should be developed around dagga?

In this weekly column, labour lawyer Jonathan Goldberg, CEO of Global Business Solutions, looks at various aspects of labour law.