QUESTION $5$

$[10$ MARks$]$

In Woolworths $($Pty$)$ Ltd$,$ v Commission for Conciliation, Modiation and Arbitration and Others, a cese was presented whereby an employeo was disciplined for being too sick to attend work but well enough to attend a rugby match, all while enjoying the benefit of paid sick leave.

The employee informed his manager that he could not attend work because he was too ill. However, on the same day, during working hours, he travelled from Jeffreys Bay to Port Elizabeth to attend a rugby match with his father $-$ a trip of about an hour. Incidentally, the employee would only have had to travel $20$ minutes to work, which he allegedly was too ill to do$.$

When the employee returned to work the next day, his manager asked him where he had been the previous day. He admitted that he had been to a rugby match but, in his defence, stated that he had recovered from his illness before he attended the rugby match.

The employee was charged with gross misconduct and subjected to a disciplinary hearing for breaching company policies and procedures by abusing authorised sick leave, for which he had been paid. He was found guilty of the allegation and dismissed. The employee subsequently referred an unfair dismissal dispute to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration $($CCMA$).$

Based on your understanding of labour legislation and disciplinary procedures, was this action fair? How would you amend the leave policy in Leaflet to prevent events like this from happening in the company?