Technician fired for abandoning casino post

LEAVING your workplace early, without the permission of your employer, can cost you your job, especially if it causes operational disruptions and financial loss to the employer, as a gaming technician responsible for seeing the smooth operation of gambling machines in a casino discovered.

- ZELDA VENTER [e-mail]

Ally Mokomane was fired by Tsogo Sun, trading as Montecasino, for simply leaving early after he was refused a day off. He later explained that he left due to a personal emergency, claiming his mother was ill. But this excuse was not accepted as it could not be verified.

Mokomane failed to have his dismissal overturned during arbitration, and he subsequently turned to the Johannesburg Labour Court to get his job back. He was, however, once again unsuccessful.

Mokomane was one of several gaming technicians engaged by the casino and the technicians were scheduled to work according to a roster, issued about a month in advance.