Employment contracts should set out the notice period which an employee must give if they want to terminate employment.<\/p>\n
This is to ensure that employers are not severely disadvantaged when an employee resigns, said Petrus Khumalo of Schoeman Law.<\/p>\n
However, in cases where your contract does not specify your notice period, the\u00a0Basic Conditions of Employment Act set out how much notice you have to give, he said.<\/p>\n
“Section 37 of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) stipulates that an Employment Contract is terminable at the instance of a party to the contract only on notice of not less than”:<\/p>\n
“Most employment contracts stipulate the notice period to be given by the employee,” said Khumalo.<\/p>\n
“Employees tend to ignore this requirement by not coming back to work or by just giving 24 hours\u2019 notice. By doing this, they, therefore, leave the employer in a difficult position.”<\/p>\n
Breach of contract<\/strong><\/p>\n However, Khumalo stressed that an employer cannot compel an employee to work when an employee terminates employment by giving short notice.<\/p>\n This causes problems to the employer in that they now have to replace the employee, as well as the money and time they had spent in training the said employee, he said.<\/p>\n “In terms of South African Labour Legislation, there is no recourse given to the employer against such an employee,” he said.<\/p>\n “This practice however constitutes a breach of contract. The employer may have a remedy in damages occasioned by the breach of contract by the employee who fails to honour his\/her employment contract.”<\/p>\n Khumalo said that if the employee gives short notice, the employer may elect to reject the resignation, or accept the resignation and waive the contractually required notice period or accept the resignation and require the employee to work the notice period.<\/p>\n If the employer rejects the resignation, the employee is bound to work in order to fulfil his\/her contractual obligations, he said.<\/p>\n “For employers to protect themselves, it is advisable that the Employment Contract stipulates that upon resignation the required notice period would be enforced by the Employer. The employee will therefore be required to give proper notice and to work their full notice period.”<\/p>\n
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