Sonja Vorster
The employment of an employee can be terminated by the voluntary resignation of the employee, due to a new job opportunity, moving house or any kind of personal reasons.If the employee resigns from employment he/she does so by giving advance notice in writing. With or without a contract between the parties, the notice period as provided for by the Basic Conditions of Employment Act provides that employees must give, in writing:
• One week notice for up to six months service
• Two weeks’ notice for between six months and 12 months service
• Four weeks’ notice for 12 months service or more and this provides for a farm worker or domestic worker who has been employed for more than six months.
Employees, remember that you do not burn bridges behind you as you never know when you will need to cross that bridge again. Never say never!I say this, as unfortunately many employees just leave without giving notice. This can cause operational problems for the employer.
This causes anger and can break down the entire trust relationship that was established during a long-term of employment. Future opportunities can be lost by the employee.A bigger problem arises for the employer where the employee fails to work-in notice in a situation where the employer needs the employee’s services for the full notice period.
This need could exist because:
• The employer needs the employee to complete a handover of his duties;
• There is a lot of work that still needs to be done;
• Certain tasks can only be done by the employee and a replacement must be trained;
• It will take time to find a suitable replacement;
• Clients need to be given advance warning of the employee’s departure due to a special working relationship between the employee and the clients.
What can employers do if employees leave without working the required notice? One thing an employer cannot do is deduct notice not worked from the employee’s last salary and/or hold back a UI19 or refuse to pay out accumulated eave pay. The only avenue open to an employer is to apply to the civil court for damages caused by the employee’s failure to work the notice.
