AUTOFORUM

MISA comment – Your actions at work have consequences

Feb 02, 2024 MISA, the Motor Industry Staff Association, Martlé Keyter, Dr Gérard Labuschagne, Tumelo Motaung,

MISA comment – Your actions at work have consequences

You cannot just be ‘Absent Without Leave’ (AWOL) from work without notifying your employer and simply refuse to answer the employer’s calls because you ‘fear’ it might cause a relapse in your depressed state.

This is a hard lesson that a MISA member, employed as a Sales Executive at a dealership in the Eastern Cape, recently had to learn. The member, who had left his workplace from the 20th of December 2023, could not prove to the employer that he visited a doctor for alleged depression. Although he had six days’ leave due to him, the employer refused to pay him as he had absconded from 20 December 2023 until 5 January 2024, whilst enjoying his full salary as at end of December 2023.

Martlé Keyter, Chief Executive Officer: Operations of MISA, the Motor Industry Staff Association, says this member’s conduct is an excellent example illustrating why members should contact the Union for advice if they feel aggrieved, before acting impulsively.

This specific member was aggrieved when his employer gave the company vehicle allocated to him, to a customer. The vehicle was returned by the customer on the 19th of December 2023 and offered back to the member, but he refused to take possession of it. From 20 December 2023 - the very next day, the member absconded from work for ten consecutive days.

According to Keyter, his employer tried to contact him numerous times in vain. The member said he was depressed and was taking anti-depressants and that he saw that his employer was trying to get a hold of him, but viewed the calls as “fruitless” and ‘feared’ that he might have a relapse in his mental health if he took the employer’s call.

When asked in his disciplinary enquiry to submit proof that he was unfit for work and that he sought medical assistance, he handed in a confirmatory letter from a doctor dated 4 January 2024.

According to the letter, he is on chronic medication for hypertension, displayed some symptoms of depressed moods and the inability to feel pleasure (anhedonia) most of the time, accompanied by a lack of concentration due to psychosocial factors. “This is a pointer to a major depressive episode. He has been placed on antidepressants. Psychotherapy has also been offered to him,” read the report. Even though this letter was from a medical practitioner, it does not validate or confirm a depressive state during the time of absenteeism, merely confirming an analysis after the fact.

Keyter said that if the member contacted MISA prior to taking matters in his own hands, the Union would have tried to reach an amicable solution to his frustrations with the employer. After the member was dismissed and his leave days were utilised for the period of absenteeism, he threatened to expose MISA and accused the Union on its social media pages of taking bribes. Keyter says the Union views these allegations in a very serious light and conducted an investigation into the handling of this matter.

“His allegations were totally unfounded,” she says. He was working for a few months at the dealership at the time.