The Employment Relations Tribunal (ERT) has recently reaffirmed the strict and mandatory nature of the statutory time limits governing disciplinary proceedings under the Workers’ Rights Act (WRA). In a noteworthy decision, the ERT held that a disciplinary committee must be completed not later than 60 days of the first oral hearing, even where both parties have expressly agreed to extend the timeline beyond that limit.
Background
The case concerned an employee, who had been in the continuous employment of Maubank Ltd since March 2009. The relevant events unfolded as follows:
05 December 2024: The employee was suspended from work and was informed that an investigation would be conducted.
27 May 2025: He was notified of the charges and further convened to attend a disciplinary committee on 10 June 2025.
01 July 2025: The first oral hearing took place.
11 August 2025: At this hearing, both parties moved for a postponement with hearings rescheduled to 15 October 2025, 12 November 2025 and 25 November 2025.
12 November 2025: Counsel for the employee moved that the proceedings be stayed as the 60 days’ limit for the completion of the disciplinary committee had lapsed. The committee heard arguments on the motion to stay the proceedings of the committee.
17 November 2025: The disciplinary committee delivered a ruling setting aside the motion.
25 November 2025: The committee sat again and completed the oral hearing.
01 December 2025: The employee’s employment was terminated.
The employee subsequently applied to the ERT for reinstatement on the basis that the termination of his employment was unjustified in as much as Maubank Ltd had breached the statutory time limit provided by section 64(11) of the WRA.
The legal framework
Section 64(11) provides that:
(a) The disciplinary hearing initiated against a worker under this section shall be completed within 30 days of the date of the first oral hearing save and except, and subject to paragraph (b), where owing to the illness or death of any of the parties or witnesses, or the reconstitution of the disciplinary panel or change in the legal or other representatives of the parties, such hearing cannot be completed during that delay.
(b) The parties may agree to extend the delay referred to in paragraph (a), provided that the disciplinary hearing is completed not later than 60 days of the date of the first oral hearing.
In this case, the first oral hearing took place on 1 July 2025, meaning that the 60-day deadline expired on 30 August 2025.
Despite this, the hearings were scheduled (by agreement) to continue well beyond the date.
The ERT’s findings
The ERT held that the 60-day statutory time limit is mandatory and “d’ordre public”. The ERT held that –
“ …laws which are of ordre public cannot be derogated from by virtue of article 6 of the Civil Code.”
As a result, the ERT:
- found that the termination of the employment was unjustified,
- did not order the reinstatement of the employee in the employment of Maubank Ltd,
- however, ordered Maubank Ltd to pay severance allowance to the employee.
Importantly, the ERT found that the fact that both sides had formally agreed to have hearings beyond the statutory 60 days was irrelevant. This decision again confirms the strict application of statutory time limits in employment disputes by Courts and Tribunals in Mauritius.
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