The employee must produce evidence that is sufficient to prove that the employee is not responsible for the breakdown of the trust relationship. The employee may be provoked into committing the act of insolence, for instance by the employers’ unreasonable conduct.

If the employee was provoked, the provocation may have a mitigating effect on the seriousness of the offence and render the sanction of dismissal inappropriate.

The actions of the employee are at times responsive or emotive in nature towards the employers’ unreasonable conduct.  Therefore, there is a need to determine whether the actions against the employer are the main reasons or most likely the cause of the dismissal.  An enquiry into the cause of the dismissal as to whether the dismissal would have occurred if the employee had not taken action against the employer.

The employee must at all times show respect to their employers, and employers must establish the mechanism or procedure for the resolution of grievances. The employer must have a Code of Conduct in place at the workplace that defines all acceptable conduct in the workplace for both the employee and the employer.

The Code of Conduct has to expressly provide rights for employees to file any grievances or proceedings of resolving any grievances filed by employees. The employer has the responsibility to give emphasizes what embodies the Code of Conduct.