"The Common Law is … not what it used to be"*: Revisiting Recognition of a Constitutionally-Inspired Implied Duty of Fair Dealing in the Common Law Contract of Employment (Part 1)

Revisiting Recognition of a Constitutionally-Inspired Implied Duty of Fair Dealing in the Common Law Contract of Employment - Part 1

Authors

  • Andre Louw Stellenbosch University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17159/1727-3781/2018/v21i0a5129

Keywords:

Common-law employment contract, labour legislation, good faith, fairness, constitutional development of the common law, right to fair labour practices, breach of employment contract

Abstract

This piece, which is in three parts, will revisit the importation of fairness into the employment contract (outside and independent of the fairness-based provisions of our labour legislation) by a line of Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) judgments during the 2000s. This process culminated in the recognition of an "implied duty of fair dealing" in the common-law employment contract. This piece will discuss such developments, will argue that such an implied duty still forms part of our law (despite apparent consensus in the literature that the SCA turned its back on such earlier judgments), will critically examine some of the arguments for and against the recognition of such a duty, and will then consider the issue within the broader context of the role of good faith and fairness in our general law of contract.

 

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References

Literature

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Bato Star Fishing (Pty) Ltd v Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism 2004 4 SA 490 (CC)

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Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997

Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996

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Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998

Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

BCEA Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997

CCMA Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration

EEA Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998

ILJ Industrial Law Journal

ILJ (UK) Industrial Law Journal (United Kingdom)

LRA Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995

PAJA Promotion of Administrative Justice Act 3 of 2000

PELJ Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal

Published

13-12-2018

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Louw, A. (2018). "The Common Law is … not what it used to be"*: Revisiting Recognition of a Constitutionally-Inspired Implied Duty of Fair Dealing in the Common Law Contract of Employment (Part 1): Revisiting Recognition of a Constitutionally-Inspired Implied Duty of Fair Dealing in the Common Law Contract of Employment - Part 1. Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal, 21, 1-25. https://doi.org/10.17159/1727-3781/2018/v21i0a5129

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