Colven Associates George CC v CCMA (PR49/2012) [2015] ZALCPE 26 (22 April 2015) per A van Niekerk J.
The Labour Court upheld the reason for a dismissal as being valid and fair after reviewing and setting aside an award. The employee refused, despite numerous requests, to comply with an instruction to undergo a polygraph test during September 2013. A client had informed the employer that various employees were bribing persons and selling jobs. The employment contract expressly provided that employees had to undergo polygraph tests when required by the employer to do so. Decisions of commissioners must be fair having regard to the interests of both parties. There was simply no basis for finding that the employee’s dismissal was substantively unfair. In other words the commissioner asked the wrong questions and failed to consider whether the employee unreasonably refused to comply with a reasonable instruction and whether dismissal was an appropriate response.