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Employment law

Implied duties of the employee

 Faithful service

– The duty of fidelity is of fundamental importance. It is breached if an
employee works for a competitor.

 To obey lawful and reasonable orders

– If the employer asks him to do something and it is legal and reasonable for
his job role, then he would be in breach of his employment contract if he
did not do so.

 Duty to exercise reasonable care and skill

– The employee must act with reasonable care in performing his duties. A
single act of negligence will not usually justify dismissal, unless it is gross
negligence.

– An extension of this duty of care is a duty to indemnify the employer for
any damages incurred as a result of the employee’s negligence.

Illustration 2 – The contract of employment

LISTER v ROMFORD ICE 1972

Facts:

An employee ran over another employee (his father!) with a fork-lift truck.

Held:

The employee was liable in damages to his employer for breach of contract.

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