South Africa
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- Capital City
Pretoria (executive), Bloemfontein (judicial), and Cape Town (legislative)
- Currency
South African Rand (R, ZAR)
- Languages
English and 10 other official languages
- Population size
59,622,350
Employment termination in South Africa
Termination process
South African employers can not terminate an employee at will. Under the South African Labour Relations Act, employees have the right to be 'fairly dismissed'.
Dismissals can happen for the following reasons:
Dismissal without notice for misconduct (for example in the case of theft or other serious misconduct);
Dismissal due to incapacity, usually after opportunity to meet performance standards;
Termination by separation agreement, agreed upon by the employee and employer.
Notice period
The statutory notice period for an employer depends on the duration of employment:
6 months or less: 1 week
More than 6 months to less than 1 year: 2 weeks
1 year or more: 4 weeks
Probation periods
Probationary periods are permitted and must be reasonable with regards to the length to determine whether the employee is suitable for the job. 3 to 6 months is fairly commonplace.