LAW TIP – An employer is not required to give a reason for terminating employment, as long as notice is properly given or paid for. KOBEAH V. TEMA OIL REFINERY; AKOMEA-BOATENG V. TEMA OIL REFINERY (CONSOLIDATED) [2003-2004] SCGLR 1033
QUOTE FROM JUDGEMENT
“At common law, an employer and his employee are free and equal parties to the contract of employment. Hence either party has the right to bring the contract to an end in accordance with its terms. Thus an employer is legally entitled to terminate an employer whenever he wishes and for whatever reasons, provided only that he gives due notice to the employee or pay him his wages in lieu of the notice. He does not even have to reveal his reason, much less to justify the termination. Much of this is the positive application of the law of contract to employment relationships. Of course, the situation can be unsatisfactory. In practice, there is usually no comparison between the consequences for an employer if an employee terminates the contract of employment and those which will ensue for an employee if he is terminated. KOBEAH V. TEMA OIL REFINERY; AKOMEA-BOATENG V. TEMA OIL REFINERY (CONSOLIDATED) [2003-2004] SCGLR 1033