Provision for termination of employees must be provided in the contract of service that is agreed upon and signed by the employee when they join an organisation.



Contract of service is any agreement - either in oral or writing - where one person agrees to employ another as an employee and the other agrees to serve his/her employer as an employee based on specifications provided in the contract by the employer. This includes a apprenticeship contract.



If the contract of service has no specification on termination of employee, period of notice should be as follows:



- Four weeks notice if the employee was employed for less than two years.



- Six weeks notice if the employee was employed for more than two years but less than five years.



- Eight weeks notice if the employee was employed for more than five years.



However, the contract of service can be terminated should the employee commit any misconduct. After due inquiry, the employers may do any three of these things:



- Dismiss the employee without notice.



- Downgrade the employee.



- Suspend the employee without wages for a period of no more than two weeks, or;



- Impose any other lesser punishment as the employer deems just and fit.



The contract of service will be deemed obsolete should this happen:



- An employer is considered to have broken the contract of service, should he fails to pay the salary of his employee on or before the 7th day of the month.



- An employee shall be deemed to have broken his contract of service if the individual is continuously absent from work for more than two consecutive working days without prior leave, unless he has any other reasonable excuse for the absence and has informed the employer of such excuse at the earliest opportunity.