Why Trust Matters in the Employment Relationship
Almost all employers are aware of the necessity of proving that the trust relationship has been broken when trying to effect the dismissal of an employee…
From an employer’s point of view the why of it is pretty simple. It actually emanates from our common law and English law, specifically the master-servant relationship…
Basically as an employer you do not have the ability to continually monitor your employees. Consequently you have to trust that they are going to do their job…
Pretty simple stuff, right? Well; no actually. A lot of things employers take for granted emanate from this concept. Let’s take something simple like dishonesty…
Consequently, when your employee tells you material fibs about your business, he or she is not treating the interests of the business as though it were his or her own…
Course, if you’re a lawyer on the other side of the fence trying to defend an ex-employee for telling porky pies, your first line of defence would simply be to allege that the lie itself was not material…
Basically that means when the time comes you need to cart your overworked, overstretched carcass off to the CCMA/DRC/Labour Court…
So, if you want to avoid this and other painful employment eventualities, phone us.
Key Takeaways
- Trust is central to every employer–employee relationship.
- The legal foundation comes from common law, where employees must act in their employer’s best interests.
- Dishonesty at work, even without financial loss, can justify dismissal if it breaks trust.
- Proving a breach of trust requires the employer’s own testimony — not hearsay.
- Lawyers often challenge dismissal cases by arguing the lie wasn’t material or trust wasn’t proven.
- Employers should be ready to show exactly how their trust was violated.
FAQs
Why is trust such a big deal in employment law?
Can dishonesty really get an employee fired?
Does the employer always have to prove a breach of trust?
Who must testify about the breach of trust?
How do lawyers defend dishonest employees?
What should employers do to protect themselves?
