Unfair labor practice?

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Fuma

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So a lady comes back from a four months maternity leave. While she was on leave, company x got a temporary replacement. This temporary replacement doesn't do a great job, in fact she messes up things. So when the lady in question comes back from leave, she had to catchup with her job (admin assistant). There was a colleague of hers who was doing project admin & stuff. These two jobs are different.

The project admin guy passed away unfortunately while the lady was on maternity leave. This lady used to help out (voluntarily) the project admin guy with his job. She was stopped by her senior colleagues not to do that project admin job because they said she was not cut out for it. In fact they said she was incompetent to do that job.

Anyway, on the first day of returning from maternity leave, she was told to do that project admin job since the guy has passed on. Huh? Remember she is still catching up with her work. She complained to her senior colleague about the strain she was getting due to two jobs now. Now they are going to give her a written warning (for refusing to work) and she has to sign from what I understand.

What should she do? CCMA?

And apparently some other people already know that she will be getting a warning. Wasn't it supposed to be a confidential thing between her, HR, and her senior colleagues involved?
 
If I were her, I wouldn't do both jobs. I would ask them choose one or the other.

Firstly she should lodge a dispute with the company to address her grievances, asking them to choose one or the other. If they choose the project admin job, then it should be seen as a promotion and her salary should increase proportionally. If they choose her old job, then so be it.

If they're not willing to negotiate, and want to proceed with the written warning, then CCMA + copy of her work contract = win for her.

Keep in mind that before going to the CCMA, she needs to lodge an internal dispute to have it resolved. She'll also need proof that she lodged a dispute with them. CCMA should only be the last option.
 
I have seen a similar situation... seems unscrupulous SA companies frown upon maternity leave and hold grudges for it.
I could recount the story here, but I would have to keep some parts secret as the case is currently before attorneys we've hired!
 
Also remember that signing a warning is not admitting to it, its acknowledging receipt of the warning. The warning can be signed by a manager if she refuses to do so. Also a warning (verbal and written) may only be issued after a disciplinary hearing and not before. But a disciplinary hearing can be impromptu and can be held in discussion only. This is to prevent spur of the moment actions from managers like "Do it now or I will give you a warning" (thats actually intimidation).

CCMA will ask the employee / manager how the disciplinary hearings where held.


EDIT: CCMA always question the actions of the employer when they refuse to sign warnings (got this advice from an ex judge who now handles my wifes staff disputes).
 
Mike Hoxbig said:
If they choose the project admin job, then it should be seen as a promotion and her salary should increase proportionally.
Click to expand...
They advertised the project admin post internally and she applied for it. So she is also in trouble for that because she didn't let them know she was applying for. I mean she is doing the damn job, so she might as well apply for it. If it is a rule that you have to let them know you are applying, or else you'll be in trouble, then she is working for a shyt company.

And her boss was using vulgar language when they called her for a meeting. Something along the lines of "you have been farking up since day one you joined the company".
The sad thing is that she can't leave her job since she is a bread winner at home and she might not get another job soon. she does work hard and she even helps the person who reported her to her manager.

Update: Apparently they cancelled the meeting and they decided to let it go. I would still want to get to the bottom of this.
 
Fuma said:
Update: Apparently they cancelled the meeting and they decided to let it go. I would still want to get to the bottom of this.
Click to expand...
Well she shouldn't back down either way. They probably just realised that it would work against them if they pursued it.

Performing the roles of two jobs, when your work contract only stipulates one, is still unacceptable and she should follow through with the dispute IMO. They initiated this, and now they need to be held accountable for it.
 
Fuma said:
They advertised the project admin post internally and she applied for it. So she is also in trouble for that because she didn't let them know she was applying for. I mean she is doing the damn job, so she might as well apply for it. If it is a rule that you have to let them know you are applying, or else you'll be in trouble, then she is working for a shyt company.

And her boss was using vulgar language when they called her for a meeting. Something along the lines of "you have been farking up since day one you joined the company".
The sad thing is that she can't leave her job since she is a bread winner at home and she might not get another job soon. she does work hard and she even helps the person who reported her to her manager.

Update: Apparently they cancelled the meeting and they decided to let it go. I would still want to get to the bottom of this.
Click to expand...

Some all inclusive info for you guys. My wife had a similar issue at her work recently, spent a few good long hours reading the labour law website, so I am pretty confident in this info. This is how the law sees it and how you go about it.

Firstly, although in SA we tend to not have the part of the contract that stipulates what your responsibilities are, you must pretty much always have a job title though. Its a good idea to keep a record of the types of jobs that you do on a daily basis. This can be used as proof of your work responsibilities combined with your job title description, which implies certain responsibilities. Detailed contractual responsibilities to be signed are definitely not the norm in this country, so you must find ways to defend your own ass.

You must realize that your company is allowed to ask you to perform another job, within reasonable bounds. Reasonable bounds is a flexible marker really, but there are certain things that are obvious. In this particular case, she should put into writing something like this:

To whom it may concern

I ___________ am writing this letter as a formal greivance regarding the increased workload that has been given to me without proper consultation. I find myself in a pressurized position due to returning from 4 months maternity leave to find that my existing work was not kept up to date.
In light of this I must put in all my time and effort to catch up and keep up on my current work responsibilities. It is unreasonable to expect me to be able to take on extra work outside of my existing workload. While I fully understand the difficult position that the company is in, regarding the death of an employee, who's workload I am expected to pick up. I find that I am not able to manage both jobs at the same time.

Please take note, that I am fully prepared to assist the company temporarily within reason and if the proper consultation procedures are followed.

Regards
_______________
Click to expand...

The words, within reason and temporarily are of the utmost importance here. A company can ask you to help out with someones workload etc... As long as they are not expecting it to be a permanent thing. They must state for how long they expect you to do the job for. They must have a deadline by which date they expect to have filled the position. If you feel that it is unreasonable you simply give them a letter like the one above.

Once you have showed your willingness to be reasonable. If they follow that up with threats and warnings, they will get their clocks cleaned at the CCMA. They will have no choice but to back off. The problem is that they will know by the tone of the letter that it is your attempt at showing them you will take them to the CCMA if they continue. By doing that you are likely hurting your future career in that company as they are already proving to be *******s, so will hold a grudge.

Its a snake eating its own tail really. You are screwed no matter which option you take. Better to try find a boss that isn't a douche somehow. But if you plan to leave, why not try catch em in a CCMA trap before you go. Due to the maternity leave being a large contributor to the stress, she will easily get a years salary, possibly 2.
 
Part of what would be reasonable is that if you're doing part of someone else's work there will be less time available to do your own work. Unless you're willing to do overtime and the company is willing to pay for it.
 
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