Basic Conditions of Employment Act, 1997 (Act No. 75 of 1997)Sectoral DeterminationsSectoral Determination 6 : Private Security Sector, South Africa23. Termination of contract of employment |
| (1) | Subject to sub clause (6)(b), 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 four weeks or less; |
| (b) | two weeks, if the employee has been employed for more than four weeks but less than one year; and |
| (c) | four weeks, if the employee has been employed for one year or more. |
| (2) | A collective agreement may not permit a notice period shorter than required by sub clause (1). |
| (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 or an employee must not— |
| (a) | be given during any period of leave to which the employee is entitled in terms of clause 9; and |
| (b) | run concurrently with any period of leave to which the employee is entitled in terms of clause 9(1) except sick leave. |
| (6) | Nothing in this clause 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 to terminate a contract of employment without notice for any cause recognised by law. |
| (7) | Instead of giving an employee or employer notice in terms of sub clause (1), an employer may pay the employee the remuneration the employee would have received, calculated in accordance with sub clause (1), as if the employee had worked during the notice period. |
| (8) | If an employee gives notice of termination of employment and the employer waives any part of the notice, the employer must pay the remuneration referred to in sub clause (7), unless the employer and employee agree otherwise. |
| (9) | On termination of employment, an employer must pay an employee— |
| (a) | remuneration in respect of – |
| (i) | ordinary time worked, calculated in terms of clause 5; |
| (ii) | overtime worked, calculated in terms of clause 5(9); |
| (iii) | time worked on a Sunday, calculated in terms of clause 8; and |
| (iv) | time worked on a public holiday or in respect of a public holiday on which the employee would normally have worked if it had not been a public holiday, in terms of clause 7; |
| (b) | remuneration calculated in accordance with clause 9(15) for any period of annual leave due in terms of clause 9(2) that the employee has not taken; |
| (c) | if the employee has been in employment longer than four months, in respect of the employee’s annual leave entitlement during an incomplete annual leave cycle, at a rate of one day’s remuneration in respect of every 17 ordinary days on which the employee worked or was entitled to be paid. |