One of our employees committed an offence at work two days after a previous warning expired for a similar misdemeanour. Is it lawful to take the old warning into account? It’s only two days after the expiry of the warning but the hearing might not be able to be held for a couple of weeks, so it will really be 14-16 days after expiry before we can make any decision.

An employer is not permitted to take expired warnings into account in the context of a new disciplinary process. While it is frustrating that the warning in this case expired so recently, the term of a warning is definite and cannot be extended unless, during the lifetime of that warning, a similar disciplinary offence is committed.