Vehicle-rental company Ez Wheels has been accused of targeting and unfairly dismissing employees and replacing them with interns in order to increase profits.
This was after the company fired one of the fleet analysts for alleged misconduct.
The employee known to the Sunday Independent was charged for incorrect billing of kilometres and sending incorrect information to a client.
However, the 44-year-old woman said this was a strategy to get rid of senior staff in order to save and make more profit.
She said there were other employees who were given warnings but were afraid to talk to the media for fear of victimisation.
The woman, who is a mother of three children, was dismissed following a disciplinary committee this week.
In a letter issued to the woman, Ez Wheels operations director Paul du Plessis said: “Charge number 1, which is incorrect billing, has placed the company at a disadvantage and cannot back and review the charges.”
Du Plessis said this was the second decision that the company had taken and it could not be sure that other incidents of similar nature had occurred. He further said that the trust relationship has been broken.
“After an error was discovered, the documents were altered to reflect the correct information. What was not taken into account by the employee was that an audit trail was in place for all changes, hence the company was able to identify the change. Accounts were not advised that the error had been corrected.
“An alteration of this nature should have been discussed with the operational director and the fleet manager before any amendments were made,” said Du Plessis, who added that the employee was previously the manager and should have been aware of this process.
He said this was a clear break in the process and has now cost the company its integrity, as the client no longer trusts “us”.
Companies have been urged not to prioritise profit over the livelihoods of their employees. This was after many companies dismissed and fired employees since the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
But the former employee said she believes she has been a target after the company allegedly asked one of her colleagues to testify against her. She alleged the colleague was told to agree with the company.
The former employee, who indicated she would appeal and needed a legal representative who could help, also said the information she sent on that day was requested from a tracking company. She said this was requested by Du Plessis and was sent through to the accountant who corrected some of the mistakes.
“My argument is that what if the billing mistake in this client is one that was created by the accountant when she was doing the corrections on the billing? The director was aware of the error. I am surprised when he says I did not tell him,” said the woman.
Questions were sent to the fleet manager Sibabale Jonga who forwarded them to Du Plessis. However, du Plessis did not respond.
The former employee also alleged that she did not sign the Disciplinary Code of Conduct and suspects that it could have been drafted after dismissal. She said she has been working for the company since 2019. She started as a receptionist and was later promoted to fleet manager before she was demoted to fleet analyst.
“This will affect me, especially because I am the only one supporting these kids financially and I am a widow. My husband passed away in 2021, so at the moment I don't have a source of income and I am still paying for my vehicle and I explained my situation during the hearing,” she said.