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Article 21/2023

What is the quantum of damages suffered by an employee in all cases of the unlawful termination of a contract, including:

  • short notice
  • defective notice
  • giving no notice at all

or some other breach of contract giving rise to an election to terminate?

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  • Unlike in the case of an unfair dismissal, in the case of exercising a contractual right to terminate an employment contract, the reasons or motives for exercising such right are normally irrelevant

(Mutsapha v Receiver of Revenue 1958 (3) SA 343 (A))

  • Where an employer reserves for itself the right to terminate an employment contract, the only potential actionable wrong is the failure to pay the requisite notice or permit the employee to work during such notice period – damages in this regard are limited to what the employee would have earned during the notice period

(Harper v Morgan Guarantee Trust 2004 (3) SA 353 (W), so referred to recently in Khan v MMI                        Holdings (2021) 32 SALLR 44 (LC))

  • The limited damages rule is applicable to all cases of unlawful termination, including short notice, defective notice, no notice given at all, or some other breach of contract giving rise to an election to terminate

(National Entitled Workers Union v CCMA (2007) 28 ILJ 1223 (LAC)

  • In summary, therefore, if an employer lawfully terminates an employment contract (i e giving proper notice or having paid in lieu of such notice, the employee has no further claim for contractual damages)
September 7, 2026

The previous article dealt with the distinction between misconduct constituting desertion and misconduct constituting abscondment – see, further, in this regard, Okhahlamba Local Municipality v Mabuya (2021) 32 SALLR 12 (LC).

In this article, what we attempt to do is provide some clarity as to a very different misconduct, namely, the misconduct of deeming desertion.

August 31, 2026

What is the difference between desertion and abscondment?

August 17, 2026

We think that everyone understands that an employer is vicariously liable for the wrong committed (an act or omission) by its employee during the course/scope/sphere of employment/engagement in any activity reasonably incidental to it.

But, what is the extent of an employer’s vicarious liability where the employee commits a wrong on his or her own volition?