Best practices when investigation employee offences.

As a Fuel Retailer, you will have to build disciplinary cases and gather evidence to ensure you have everything needed to lawfully discipline or dismiss an employee.

Here are some tips we've used successfully:

If you become aware of an offence by an employee you first must decide if the offence falls under negligence or misconduct.

• Misconduct is where an employee did something wrong. Negligence is where an employee fails to do something.
• Misconduct is more difficult to prove than negligence, because the absence of something generally proves negligence, whereas misconduct often requires that you show/prove intent.
• E.g. it is easier to prove that a Cashier failed to make a safe drop on the till and failed to drop the money in the drop safe, than it is to prove the Cashier took money with the intent to steal it.

Next you must gather information in an investigation process. If you are investigating misconduct you need proof that the employee intended to do something. If you are investigating negligence, you need proof that the employee did NOT do something.

Lets assume that a Cashier is short R200 and you suspect that she took the cash from the till.

To charge the Cashier with misconduct, you will need:

• Proof that there was a standard - such as a rule/procedure/requirement that an employee may not steal. This is easy as the laws in South Africa already state that stealing is a criminal offence.
• Proof that the till was short for the shift – such as a cash-up sheet, daily balancing report and the slips for the shift that show the cashier is short.
• Proof that the Cashier was the one who took the money – such as a body or bag search which revealed R200 in her possession.
• Proof that the Cashier intended to take the money off the premises or out of the cashier area – eyewitness accounts, CCTV footage of the cashier leaving, etc.

It is important to note that even with all the above evidence, the Cashier can make many claims such as "someone else took the money", "I forgot to drop the cash", "the cash you found on me is my own money", etc.


You should think what the employee may claim in his/her defense and gather information to confirm or disprove his/her claim. For example, the Cashier may claim that a manager took R200 from the till. If that is the case the Cashier should have done a payout on the till and the manager should have signed for it. The manager should also be called as a witness and the CCTV footage should confirm/disprove the Cashier’s claim.


If you charge the Cashier with negligence, you will need:

• Proof that there was a standard – such as a rule/procedure/requirement e.g. "that a Cashier must at all times control ALL the cash in the till" and "always balance to within R5 over/short". This is where it is important to have a "Code of Conduct" and a "Rules and Procedures" document. These documents should be given to each employee at the start of employment as they are critical in Disciplinary Procedures.
• Proof that the till was short for the shift – such as a cash-up sheet, daily balancing report and the slips for the shift that show the cashier is short.

This is a much easier charge to prove as it requires less evidence.

In both cases, you will submit the evidence in a Disciplinary Hearing.

This is where the Chairman of the hearing will consider the evidence on a "balance of probability" and decide what most likely happened.

Other Fuel Retailers have shared the following tips:

• "The easiest way to prove misconduct and intent is to get the employee to admit to the offence and write a statement admitting guilt and intention. This, for obvious reasons, is very difficult. But if you are able to get a written confession it almost always removes the likelihood of a case at the DRC/CCMA."

• "Pictures speak louder than words. CCTV footage is one of the best ways to prove an offence, but remember to save the footage immediately, especially if your DVR doesn't keep the footage for long."

• "Save the footage on a separate computer or flash drive."

• "CCTV footage before and after the incident, especially where the employee can claim that something happened before or after the incident to explain it."

• "You should also printout the frames that show the employee at the critical moments."

• "Make copies of documents used e.g. reports, cash-ups, stock forms, slips, etc. so you can give them to the Chairman at a disciplinary hearing."

• "Support information e.g. shift roster, attendance register, journal entries showing transactions or activities, etc."

• "If management is present at the time of the incident and there is evidence to be seen, take photos as proof."