What is Gross Misconduct?
Gross misconduct refers to the offences that staff members and employees could commit at the workplace. This includes a long list of offences which are unprofessional and unethical and fall well below the recommended behavioural norms at the workplace. Sometimes, a gross misconduct is deemed severe and directly leads to the contract / employment termination of the employee held responsible for the act.
Issues coming under this category include, sexual harassment, bullying, using drugs at work, violence, theft of official property, stealing classified official information or Intellectual Property theft, sabotaging client relations with the organization itself, etc.
Issues falling gross misconduct must be handled by the organization with extreme caution, as even a small case of contract termination could lead to a severe case of unfair dismissal being filed against the organization. Employment contracts must explicitly elucidate on what constitutes a gross misconduct and define its limits for the organization.
