Misuse of Cellphones and Telephones at the workplace in Zimbabwe

An employee may receive and make calls at the workplace in Zimbabwe which have nothing to do with the employer’s business. An employee is contracted to work and not to chat with friends and family during office hours.

The misuse of cellphones and telephones by employees during working hours may pose serious safety risks, particularly when operating machines. The misuse of cellphones and telephones in the workplace in Zimbabwe is generally regarded as an act of misconduct in most Collective Bargaining Agreements in Zimbabwe. However, there do not appear to be any reported cases of the issue. In Protea Technology Ltd v Wainer (1997) 3 All SA 594 (W) it was held that:

“An employee may receive and make calls which have nothing to do with his employer’s business. The employee making such calls has a legitimate expectation of privacy. Although he must account to his employer if so required for the time so spent, the employer cannot compel him to disclose the substance of such calls. The content of conversations involving his employer’s affairs (whether directly or indirectly) is a different matter. The employer is entitled to demand and obtain from an employee as full account as the latter is capable of furnishing. In this sense also, the company can fairly be regarded as the owner of the knowledge in the employee’s mind. As soon as the employee abandons the private sphere of his conversation for that of the affairs of his employer, he loses the benefit of privacy. The determination of that moment will not generally be one of great difficulty.”