Jacqui Reed was recently interviewed on South African radio station Kaya FM to discuss the interplay between labour law and the entrepreneurial ambitions of employees. The discussion elaborated on some of the issues employees need to consider prior to pursuing interests unrelated to those of the business for which they work.
Importantly, one must be aware of the differences between common law and contractual law as a contract of employment may not disclose every duty attendant on an employee upon joining an organisation; some duties may still apply to the employee because of the common law. Therefore, though a contract of employment may not explicitly state that you may not use working hours for activities unrelated to the business of the organisation, there is a duty which is placed on an employee in terms of the common law to act in the employer’s best interests. The common law places a fiduciary duty on every employee to act in good faith once joining an organisation and this is a duty which applies regardless of whether the contract of employment explicitly provides for it.
Interesting to note is that despite these duties not being explicitly mentioned in the contract of employment, failure to act in good faith is viewed as breach of contract and can lead to disciplinary action which may result in dismissal, depending on the severity of the breach of contract.
Five key takeaways from the interview:
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