Services · Discipline & Dismissals
Before you act on a poor performer, a disciplinary case, a resignation or a restructure, know what the law actually allows, and what happens if you get it wrong.
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The legal position
A dismissal is judged on two things, separately: whether there was a fair reason, and whether a fair process was followed to reach it. Getting either one wrong is enough to lose.
A dismissal must be for a fair reason relating to the employee's conduct, the employee's capacity, or the employer's operational requirements, and it must follow a fair procedure. Once the dismissal is established, it is the employer who must prove it was fair.
LRA s188 and s192Since 4 September 2025 a new Code has replaced Schedule 8 to the LRA. It keeps the core requirement that the employee is told what is alleged and given a fair chance to respond, and it expressly allows small businesses a less formal process, provided that chance to respond is still given and the decision is recorded.
Code of Good Practice: Dismissal (2025)Misconduct is about breaking a rule. Poor performance calls for a clear standard, support, training and a reasonable time to improve. Ill health or injury calls for investigation and accommodation before dismissal is considered. Running the wrong process is one of the most common reasons employers lose.
LRA s188; Code of Good Practice: Dismissal (2025)A dismissal because of pregnancy, trade union membership or activity, a protected disclosure, or discrimination on a listed ground is automatically unfair, whatever process was followed, and carries the higher compensation cap.
LRA s187Common mistakes
Almost all of these come down to a decision made without checking first. That is the part we fix.
What you get with ClearLine
Everything below sits in your member portal, against your own company and employee records, so the history is there when you need it.
Step-by-step processes in the portal for misconduct, poor performance, incapacity and grievances, from the first incident to the outcome, with the documents each step needs.
In the member portal
Log verbal, written and final written warnings against the employee's file with a set validity period (our recommended defaults are 3, 6 and 12 months) and a running countdown, so you always know which warnings are still live.
Every package
Warnings and disciplinary documents are checked against the LRA and BCEA as you prepare them. If something looks like a contravention, the document is held and a legal advisor contacts you before it is issued.
Every package
Notice of Disciplinary Hearing, Disciplinary Report and Final Written Warning, prepared from the details you have already captured on the employee's file.
From Assist; unlimited on Executive and Premier, within the document allowance
What to do when an employee breaks the rules, from the first complaint to warnings, hearings and the outcome, step by step.
Included on Executive and Premier; a once-off purchase on other packages, at your member discount
When a question is outside Naledi's scope, or you want a person to look at your specific facts, escalate it to a labour consultant through the portal and get a considered answer, not a guess.
From Professional, with more escalations per month on each higher package
How it works
Routine, settled questions get an immediate answer from Naledi, our online legal advisor.
Anything outside Naledi's scope goes to a senior legal advisor, who responds personally.
Matters that need an attorney go to our panel, under a separate mandate you enter directly with that firm.
FAQ
Not always a formal one, but the employee must always be told what is alleged and given a fair opportunity to respond before a decision is made. The 2025 Code allows small businesses a less formal process, as long as that opportunity is given and the decision is recorded.
The law does not fix a single period. It depends on the seriousness of the offence and your own disciplinary code. In the portal, we recommend 3 months for a verbal warning, 6 for a written warning and 12 for a final written warning, and you choose the period when you issue it.
A resignation generally ends the employment once the notice period runs out, which affects whether a hearing can still proceed. Ask Naledi or escalate it to a legal advisor before you act, as the right answer depends on the timing and the notice given.
Get a straight answer from Naledi, free, or join and have a legal advisor and the attorney panel behind every decision.