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Dismissal And Related Problems Of Social Media-Related Misconduct In The South African Workplace

Author

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  • Howard Chitimira

    (Faculty of Law, North West University, South Africa)

Abstract

The advent of social media-related platforms has directly and/or indirectly affected the employer-employee relationship in the South African workplace. The misuse of social media by employees in the workplace during office working hours has resulted in numerous dismissals of employees for social media-related misconduct in South Africa. While such dismissals of employees for social media-related misconduct could be justifiable, some employees have been sometimes unfairly dismissed for their mere use of social media platforms and/or for the innocent comments made through such platforms in the South African workplace during office working hours. Owing to this conundrum, the article investigates the procedural and substantive fairness of social media-related dismissals of employees in accordance with the South African employment laws. This is done to unpack problems associated with social media-related misconduct in the workplace and related flaws in the South African employment laws. Moreover, examples of social media-related misconduct by employees are discussed and possible recommendations that could adopted to combat such misconduct are provided.

Suggested Citation

  • Howard Chitimira, 2021. "Dismissal And Related Problems Of Social Media-Related Misconduct In The South African Workplace," Perspectives of Law and Public Administration, Societatea de Stiinte Juridice si Administrative (Society of Juridical and Administrative Sciences), vol. 10(3), pages 233-251, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sja:journl:v:10:y:2021:i:3:p:233-251
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Barry, Bruce, 2007. "The Cringing and the Craven: Freedom of Expression in, Around, and Beyond the Workplace," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 17(2), pages 263-296, April.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    social media-related misconduct; dismissal; workplace; cyber bullying; harassment.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • K24 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Cyber Law
    • K31 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Labor Law

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