LS

Overview

The Domestic Inquiry process can be a complex endeavour for organisations as the people manning this process in the organisation are not legally trained yet are expected to act as if they are legally capable. Where a domestic inquiry is conducted by an organisation, the reason for doing so is that the accused employee has committed a major misconduct and the company intends to impose a serious disciplinary action, such as a dismissal or a downgrade. Otherwise, there is little reason to go through the process of selecting a panel of inquiry members, selecting a competent prosecutor and questioning witnesses at length.

Companies however are continually frustrated by this process as after going through this cumbersome exercise, they find that the panel of inquiry have found insufficient grounds to dismiss or downgrade the accused employee. The reasons these happen boils down to one or all of the three following reasons:

• The failure of the organisation to accurately word a strong charge against the accused employee in the charge sheet;

• The failure of the prosecutor to establish a strong case warranting a dismissal; and

• The panel of inquiry members considering other irrelevant evidence in basing their recommendations.

The enclosed agenda helps your organisation avoid this same fate by focusing on how it can establish a strong charge, prosecute effectively and most importantly ensure that your panel members clearly understand their roles and responsibilities in the DI process. Particular emphasis will also be placed on guiding panel members on the importance of not being dissuaded by other irrelevant factors in basing their recommendations.

Agenda

Day One

9.00 am to 10.00 am

The Process of Identifying Misconducts

• Differentiating a minor misconduct from a major misconduct;

• Differentiating poor performance from negligence and disobedience to a superiors authority,

• The step by step process of what happens when a major misconduct occurs.

10.30 am to 1.00pm

The Domestic Inquiry Process

• Differentiating between a show cause letter and a charge sheet,

• The process of drafting a charge sheet (important facts that must be included in any charge),

• Understanding the role of the prosecutor and the panel of inquiry

• Review of the type of questions a panel of inquiry can and cannot ask

2.00pm to 3.30 pm

Role Play of a Domestic Inquiry (case scenario of sexual harassment)

• Preparing for the actual domestic inquiry,

• Review of the effectiveness of the charge sheet,

• Do’s and don’ts involved during the introduction phase of the domestic inquiry.

3.45pm to 5.30 pm

Conduct of the Domestic Inquiry

• Question and answer session of witnesses

• Closing summary by the prosecutor and accused,

• Decision of the panel of inquiry,

• Writing out the panel of inquiry findings report;

Day Two

9.00am – 10.30am

Role Play of a Domestic Inquiry – (case scenario misappropriation)

• Preparing for the actual domestic inquiry,

• Review of the effectiveness of the charge sheet,

• Do’s and don’ts involved during the introduction phase of the domestic inquiry

10.45am to 1.00pm

Conduct of a Domestic Inquiry

• Question and answer session of witnesses,

• Closing summary by the prosecutor and accused,

• Decision of the panel of inquiry,

• Writing out the panel of inquiry findings report;

2.00pm – 3.30pm

Role Play of a Domestic Inquiry – Insubordination

• Preparing for the domestic inquiry

• Reviewing the effectiveness of the charge sheet

• Preparing the list of questions to ask (an exercise for panel members)

3.45pm – 5.00pm

Conduct of a Domestic Inquiry

• Question and answer session of witnesses,

• Closing summary by the prosecutor and accused,

• Decision of the panel of inquiry,

• Writing out the panel of inquiry findings report;

*Note: Tools used will include recent court awards/case studies and role play of the domestic inquiry process