Welcome to Chapter 7 of Open Source Startup: Disciplinary Policy Template. For a table of contents, head over to the Introduction here . Ah. South African Labour Law. We all know very well why it's as employee-friendly as it is. Because capitalism can be nasty and there are plenty of people that need to be protected. But it does make it quite hard to build a business in this beautiful country of ours. As a nation, we choose not to sacrifice protection of lower-income workers, therefore we need to figure this out and find a way to play the cards we've been dealt. The first step is to have an Employment Contract . The second is to have a Disciplinary Policy (which is specifically referenced in said employment contract) - and to make sure every employee of yours has received it and read it. A Disciplinary Policy is a safe guard against an enormous amount of time spent in the CCMA trying to get rid of a bad egg. And trust me, everyone is going to end up hiring a few bad