If your employee or employees require their driver’s licence to perform their job, and their licence expires without timeous renewal, the employee is driving without a valid driver’s licence.
Does your employment contract make provision for this eventuality and the responsibility of the employee to ensure that their driver’s licence is renewed timeously? If not, contact your SEESA labour advisor, and we will assist with the relevant employment contract provisions and or disciplinary process.
Some employers consider the lack of driver’s licence or timeous renewal thereof, to be an act of misconduct by the employee, however, there is another process that governs this eventuality, being the general incapacity process. Incapacity is not defined in the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 but refers to a failure by the employee to meet the employer’s required performance standards.
Operational Incapacity
The employee is incapacitated by their lack of driver’s licence, or PDP (professional drivers permit) to perform their job, being for example a courier driver, salesperson, truck driver, bus driver, or professional advisor required to drive to meet with clients.
The process to be followed is one of an operational incapacity inquiry:
- Notification of the operational incapacity inquiry provided to the employee at least 7 days before the date of inquiry;
- Enquiry is held;
- Outcome thereof, being either postponement for the matter to be finalised or dismissal.
Matters to be considered during operational incapacity inquiry include inter alia, when did the driver’s licence expire, has the employee applied for renewal, timelines to obtain the same (if possible) alternatively, the lack of drivers licence due to the demerit system, and consequential penalties being non-renewal for a certain period of time.
Contact your local SEESA office for further assistance.
Resources:
- Schedule 8 (Code of Good Practice) of the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995
- Samancor Chrome Ltd (Tubatse Ferrochrome) v Metal Engineering Industries Bargaining Council and Others (2010) 31 ILJ 1838
About the Author:
Carla Delaney: Admitted Attorney, Notary and Conveyancer, and labour lawyer in the De Aar Office, Northern Cape