Misconduct: A fault dismissal

These are the basic principles of employment law.  Distinguished from retrenchment and incapacity, misconduct is classified a fault dismissal.  This is so, because in this case, the law considers the conduct of an employee to constitute a serious breach of the employment contract.

However, the conduct of an employee is not only the sole factor of determining the fairness of a dismissal for misconduct.  There are relevant factors that the court takes into consideration to determine the fairness of this dismissal.  For the purposes of this article, we shall today address the substantive fairness of the misconduct.  The next article will deal with the procedural fairness thereof.