Basic Conditions of Employment Act, 1997 (Act No. 75 of 1997)Chapter Five : Termination of employment37. Notice of termination of employment |
| (1) | Subject to section 38, a contract of employment terminable at the instance of a party to the contract may be terminated only on notice of not less than— |
| (a) | one week, if the employee has been employed for six months or less; |
| (b) | two weeks, if the employee has been employed for more than six months but not more than one year; |
| (c) | four weeks, if the employee— |
| (i) | has been employed for one year or more; or |
| (ii) | is a farm worker or domestic worker who has been employed for more than six months. |
| (2) |
| (a) | A collective agreement may permit a notice period shorter than that required by subsection (1). |
| (b) | Despite paragraph (a), a collective agreement may permit the notice period of four weeks required by subsection (1)(c)(i) to be reduced to not less than two weeks. |
| (3) | No agreement may require or permit an employee to give a period of notice longer than that required of the employer. |
| (4) |
| (a) | Notice of termination of a contract of employment must be given in writing, except when it is given by an illiterate employee. |
| (b) | If an employee who receives notice of termination is not able to understand it, the notice must be explained orally by, or on behalf of, the employer to the employee in an official language the employee reasonably understands. |
| (5) | Notice of termination of a contract of employment given by an employer must— |
| (a) | not be given during any period of leave to which the employee is entitled in terms of Chapter Three; and |
| (b) | not run concurrently with any period of leave to which the employee is entitled in terms of Chapter Three, except sick leave. |
| (6) | Nothing in this section affects the right— |
| (a) | of a dismissed employee to dispute the lawfulness or fairness of the dismissal in terms of Chapter VIII of the Labour Relations Act, 1995, or any other law; and |
| (b) | of an employer or an employee to terminate a contract of employment without notice for any cause recognised by law. |