What is the duty of loyalty?
Employees have a duty of loyalty to their employer. It is often forgotten that, just as an employer has a duty to ensure, among other things, that an employee is safe at work and is paid his or her wages, an employee also has duties towards his or her employer. One of these obligations, which derive directly from employment contract law, is known as the duty of loyalty.
Employee responsibilities
The worker must carry out his/her work with care, in accordance with the instructions given by the employer on how to carry out the work. It is therefore the worker's duty to respect the employer's right to direct the work.
The employee's duty of loyalty requires that the employee must avoid any action that is inconsistent with what is reasonably required of an employee in his or her position. The employee should therefore act in the employer's interest. He must not cause damage to his employer by his actions. The scope of the duty of loyalty may be considered to be greater the higher the position held by the employee.
Employees have a legal duty to exercise the care and caution required by their work and working conditions and to use all means at their disposal to ensure the safety of themselves and other employees at the workplace. In addition, the worker must inform the employer of any defects or deficiencies in the structures, machinery, equipment, work equipment and protective equipment at the workplace which he or she discovers and which may give rise to a risk of accident or illness.
Employee leisure and social media
It may come as a surprise to many that the duty of loyalty also extends to time off or to a situation where an employee would be on leave. To some extent, it may even limit the constitutional right to freedom of expression. Indeed, recent years have seen employment law disputes over what an employee can or cannot say on social media.
Competing activities of an employee
The Employment Contracts Act prohibits an employee from engaging in activities that compete with those of the employer. An employee may not perform work for another which, in view of the nature of the work and the employee's position, is obviously prejudicial to his or her employer as an act of competition contrary to good labour relations practice.
Employer's business secrets
The employee has a duty to keep the employer's business and professional secrets confidential. In this case, the employee must not, during the employment relationship, exploit or disclose to any third party the employer's business secrets. Such trade and professional secrets may include, for example, the employer's financial or technical information and customer information. As a general rule, the obligation of professional secrecy applies only during the employment relationship, but under certain conditions also after termination of the employment relationship.
What are the consequences of a breach of the duty of loyalty?
If an employee breaches the duty of loyalty, the employer has the right to issue a warning. If there are more warnings for the same matter, the employer may have the right to terminate the employment relationship. The employee may also be liable for damages for the breach.
Article drafted by the Advocate Tuula Rainto, Amos Law Firm. You can always call him free of charge on 010 299 5090. You can consult our price list Here.
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