PRACTICE MANAGEMENT
Dismissal for Misconduct
The following are grounds for dismissal for misconduct:
• The accused employee did commit the misconduct
• The misconduct was serious enough to merit dismissal
• The employee knew or should have known that
the incident constituted misconduct
• The rule or standard was valid or reasonable
• The rule has been consistently applied in previous
cases.
• If the dismissed employee takes action against
the vet practice, you will be asked the following:
• Were there any mitigating circumstances?
• Can you prove that the employee's conduct
made a continued employment relationship
impossible?
The above refers to the “substance” of the dismissal;
however the dismissal must also be “procedurally”
fair. Procedural fairness refers to following the correct
procedure when effecting the dismissal.
This procedure is outlined by the labour legislation,
as well as the vet practice’s own disciplinary code. It
includes holding a disciplinary hearing, allowing the
employee to appeal, etc..
Dismissal for Incapacity
Incapacity can arise from two places; first, a newly
appointed employee shows that they are unable to
perform their job adequately or, second, when injury
or ill-health prevents an employee from performing
their duties.
As discussed in the first article in this series, recruitment is the foundation on which employee relations
is based. This is very evident in the case of dismissing
for poor work performance as the employer will have
to show the following:
• The employee was given appropriate evaluation,
instruction, training, guidance or counselling.
• The employee continues to perform unsatisfactorily after a reasonable period of time for improvement has been given.
This means that the probationary period should be
seen as a time for skilling the employee, rather than
just “checking them out”.
Incapacity due to ill health or injury can be temporary
or permanent
• Temporary: The vet practice needs to assess the
extent of the illness or injury as to whether the
employee will be absent for an unreasonably long
period of time. If so, the vet has to explore all possible alternatives to dismissal. For example, if an
employee will be absent from work for 3 months
due to illness, an alternative to dismissal could be
employing someone on a temporary basis.
•
•
Permanent: Before considering dismissal, the vet
has to look at whether the employee’s workplace
can be adapted to accommodate their disability
or, alternatively, whether the employee can perform another job within the practice. For example, in the case of an practice manager who becomes wheelchair-bound, the vet would have to
investigate making her office easily accessible to
the wheelchair.
In the case of injury or sickness caused by their
job, even more accommodation should be made.
One particular area to be aware of is that, while being
drunk can be a dismissable offence, alcoholism and
drug addiction can be seen as illnesses and therefore
counselling or some other intervention should be
considered before dismissal.
Dismissal for Operational Requirements
Because small to medium sized businesses have dismissed unproductive employees by saying “We just
can’t afford to keep you on” to avoid disciplinary action, the labour legislation is very specific about what
constitutes dismissal for operational reasons and how
it must be conducted. Dismissal for operational requirements are categorised as “no fault” dismissals as
they are not in any way linked to the performance of
an employee. As they are