Continued from last week
6. It shall be the duty of every employer to keep such records as are necessary to show that the provisions of this Act are being complied with in respect of persons in his employment and if he fails to do so, he shall be liable on summary conviction in respect of each offence to a fine of fifteen thousand, six hundred and twenty five dollars.
PART III
Termination of employment
7. A contract of employment for an unspecified period of time may at anytime be terminated.
(a) by mutual consent of the parties;
(b) on any ground of redundancy under section 12;
(c) by either party-
(i) for good or sufficient cause;
(ii) by notice given to or served upon the other party.
8. (1) The following reasons do not constitute good or sufficient cause for dismissal or for imposition of disciplinary action-
(a) an employee’s race, sex, religion, colour ethnic origin, national extraction, social origin, political opinion, family responsibility, or marital status;
(b) an employee’s age, subject to any law or collective bargaining provisions regarding retirement;
(c) a female employee’s pregnancy or a reason connected with her pregnancy;
(d) an employee’s absence from work because of sickness or injury certified by a registered medical practitioner;
(e) an employee’s absence from work due to compulsory military service or other civic obligation in accordance with any law;
(f) an employee’s participation in industrial action in conformity with the provision of any law or collective labour agreement;
(g) an employee’s refusal to do any work normally done by an employee who is engaged in industrial action as described in subsection (1) (f);
(h) the filing by an employee of a complaint or the participation in proceedings against an employer involving alleged violations of any rule of law.
(2) A dismissal or imposition of disciplinary action is unfair if it is based on any of the grounds contained in subsection (1) or on the failure of any of the employer’s obligations under section 11 or 18.
9. A new employee may be required to serve a probationary period of employment, but the employer or employee may terminate the employment at any time during the probationary period for any reason and without notice.
10. (1) An employer is entitled to dismiss summarily without notice or payment of any severance or redundancy allowance or terminal benefit any employee who is guilty of serious misconduct.
(2) The serious misconduct referred to in subsection (1) is restricted to that conduct which is directly related to the employment relationship and has a detrimental effect on the employer’s business.
11. (1) Where the employee is guilty of an offence in breach of his condition of employment or any misconduct that is not serious or any misconduct on account of which the employer cannot be expected to continue to employ the employee if it is repeated, the employer may give the employee a written warning.
(2) If the employee after being warned in writing pursuant to subsection (1) is guilty of the same or similar offence or misconduct in the following six months, the employer may terminate the employee’s contract of employment without notice.
(3) The employer shall be deemed to have waived any right to terminate the employment of any employee for misconduct if such employer has failed to do so after having knowledge of the misconduct or at the end of any investigation of the said misconduct.
(4) The employment of an employee shall not be terminated for unsatisfactory performance unless the employer has given the employee instructions as to how the employee should perform his duties and a written warning to adhere to the employer’s instructions and the employee continues to perform any duty unsatisfactorily.
