According to the recent case of Numsa obo Manyike / Wenzana Consulting and Construction [2021] 5 BALR 479 (MEIBC), an employee was dismissed by his employer for pulling his mask down over chin in order to take a phone call with company security whilst at work.
The employee referred his dismissal to the Metal and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council, the employee stated that he had to lower his mask as the security member was unable to hear him over the phone, while he was wearing his mask.
The Bargaining Council subsequently found that the dismissal of the employee was substantively unfair and awarded reinstatement of the employee together with back pay. The Bargaining Council reasoned that dismissal in the specific circumstances of the case was too harsh a sanction by the employer and less stringent corrective measures could have been taken by the employer, more specifically suspension without pay, they further reasoned that there was confusion regarding the wearing of face masks in the workplace and that more education was required in this regard.
