The Employment and Labour Relations Court has ruled that an employee who goes without salary cannot reasonably be expected to keep reporting to work.

📋 Breaking It Down

An employee who goes without a salary cannot reasonably be expected to keep reporting to work, the Employment and Labour Relations Court has ruled, warning employers against withholding workers’ pay while still expecting them to report for duty.

The court recognised an employee’s inability to report to work because of prolonged non- payment of salary as a justified cause, rather than mere desertion of duty.

“Without a salary, the employee has no reason to report to work,” the court said.

📌 What You Need to Know

In a ruling delivered on August 31, the court explained that prolonged non-payment of salary could place an employee in inhuman and degrading circumstances and effectively render the employment contract no longer binding on the employee.

The court further held that where an employer’s prolonged failure to pay salary made the employment contract untenable, the resulting termination could be deemed to have been initiated by the employer.

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The court made the ruling in a case in which Samuel Kingiri, a driver, sued his employer, Surtech Limited, claiming unfair termination of his employment during the Covid 19 pandemic.

The court found that the company had unfairly terminated Mr Kingiri’s employment through constructive unfair dismissal when it left him without a clear decision on his employment status. Constructive dismissal of an employee arises when the employer, through its conduct, undermines the employment relationship.

It held that the non- payment of salary had placed Mr Kingiri in distress and left him unable to feed himself, resulting in a life of indignity.

📰 Source: Nation Africa