Court reinstates worker

The Labour Court has ordered the reinstatement of a clerk who was fired for allegedly sending a client a package with a piece of scrap metal instead of airtime recharge cards.
Weston Gombera was employed by Courier Connect as a counter clerk in Harare.
On July 31, 2008 he served a customer who wanted to send cellphone recharge cards to Kariba.
Gombera, it is alleged, dispatched the package to Kariba via Karoi.
However, the recipient found the package contained a piece of scrap metal.
Courier Connect charged Gombera with mis- conduct for failing to properly check the contents and weight.
The dispatched juice cards weighed 660 grammes, but the scrap metal weighed 850 grammes.
However, Labour Court president Mr Godfrey Musariri noted: “The discrepancy in weight was first noted in Karoi.
“I asked the respondent’s attorney and official to bring a copy of the counter clerk’s operations manual, but it was unavailable.
“The idea was to ascertain which rule or procedure appellant departed from and to determine the extent of the departure.”
Though not fully compliant, such conduct could not be described as gross disregard, the court ruled.
Gombera, the court said, should be reinstated without loss of salary and benefits. – CR.