Download a flowchart for a guide to Dealing with Disobedience Refusal of Instructions.
Legal Factors
All employees have a duty to comply with all lawful and reasonable instructions of their employer. Failure to do so will put the disobedient employee in breach of contract and make him/her liable to disciplinary action and/or dismissal.
To be “lawful” your instruction must not be illegal nor outside the requirements of the employee’s contract of employment. For example, it is unlikely that it would be lawful to ask a receptionist to perform the duties of a mechanic, nor would it be lawful to ask an employee to engage in criminal activity.
To be “reasonable” your instruction must not expose the employee to any unreasonable health or safety hazard. It is lawful for an employee to refuse an instruction if he/she has reasonable grounds to believe that carrying out the instruction would expose him/her to a direct and immediate health or safety hazard.
Guidelines
Follow the Disobedience and Refusal of Instructions flowchart in circumstances where an employee is refusing to carry out a lawful and reasonable instruction.
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