Intentional Failure To Do Your Duty – Understand The Meaning Of Dereliction

“The only way to do great work, is to love what you do” – Steve Jobs

Article by Tumi Ntshekang (Labour Relations Officer)

Introduction

It is a basic prerequisite for an employee to follow and adhere to known and established rules and procedures in the workplace. When an employee knowingly fails to follow these rules, he fails that obligation. This amounts to a breach of a contractual obligation to perform in accordance with your contract of employment. These may further carry dire and financial consequences, influencing the employer’s business. Depending on the seriousness and severity of the willful act, dereliction may lead to dismissal as a first offence.

Another publication on Business Tech recently made reference to a similar concept, referenced as “quiet quitting,” which speaks to the situation whereby an employee performs his duties, but to the barest minimum expected. Read it here. 

Meaning of Dereliction of Duty

Dereliction of duty, on the other hand, is a charge that refers to an intentional or conscious failure of an employee to do his or her duty. Dereliction of duty means that an employee willfully or negligently failed to perform his or her duties or performed them in a culpably inefficient manner.

I recall an employee once being charged as such, and the facts revealed that this employee, who was tasked to a key role within a production line to fine grind and clean brass medals (used for awards on sports days etc.), and this employee would just not be at his station, instead, he would walk around the various other departments, practicing his social skills or hide out in the bathroom for hours on end. His actions had a direct impact on the production deadlines and value produced, which in turn directly affected the employer’s financial bottom line. It was rather obvious, when the employer found out (camera footage), the employee was dismissed. 

What does action of dereliction of duty entail?

Failure to do your duty entails knowingly failing to follow a procedure and/or disregard established known set of rules. Dereliction cannot be associated to a lack of skill or misconstrued instructions, it simply entails that you had a duty to accomplish, and either willfully or negligently failed to accomplish it.

In Bidair Services (Pty) Ltd v Sekhabisa NO and Others (JR174317) [2019] ZALCJHB 328 (26 November 2019) the employee was dismissed for misconduct relating to gross insubordination and dereliction of duties. It was the employee’s duty to ensure that control/manifest sheets were accurate and completed at 100%. It was a critical component of aviation safety that an aircraft must not be overloaded, as this may well cause a crash. The weight of an aircraft is a critical safety consideration. An imbalanced or overweight aircraft is an accident waiting to happen.

Without satisfying himself that the manifest was correct, the employee accepted that the manifest simply be amended by hand to reflect the weight of the cargo as being 1 022 kilograms and what was ultimately loaded onto the aircraft was 1 259 kilograms in cargo. The employee failed to follow critical safety requirements. The CCMA had found that the employee’s dismissal was substantively unfair. On review, the Labour Court found that the latter could not be sustained, and falls to be reviewed and set aside. The arbitration award was substituted with an award that the employee’s dismissal was substantively fair; making special mention of the trust relationship, (or lack thereof), justifying dismissal.

In Joseph v Standard Bank of SA (2001) 8 BALR 868, Joseph was dismissed for breaching the rule that there must be at least two officials present when money was being prepared for collection. The CCMA found that Joseph had in fact broken this rule and was guilty of dereliction of duty. However, as the manager concerned had charged the employee out of “spite” rather than out of concern for the security of the bank, the arbitrator found that the dismissal was unfair.

Conclusion

It is clear from the above case law that for an action of dereliction of duty to warrant a dismissal, the employer must show that there is imminent harm, consequences or potential harm an employer may suffer because of the employee’s intentional failure to do his or her duty. Be mindful that having regard to workplace rules and wilfully disregarding the same rules may lead you into serious trouble.

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