Employment Act 1955 · Updated to 1 Aug 2023 · Part II · Contracts of Service
12. Notice of termination of contract
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Either side may end a contract of service by written notice, equal for both. Without a written term, notice is at least four weeks if employed under two years, six weeks if under five years, and eight weeks if five years or more. If the job ends because the business closes or changes owner, the contract cannot lower these minimums.
Summary · Drafted with AI, checked against the official text on 30 Sep 2026.
Either party to a contract of service may at any time give to the other party notice of his intention to terminate such contract of service.
contract of service
“contract of service” means any agreement, whether oral or in writing and whether express or implied, whereby one person agrees to employ another as an employee and that other agrees to serve his employer as an employee and includes an apprenticeship contract;
*NOTE—The Children and Young Persons (Employment) Act 1966 [Act 40 of 1966] has since been revised as the Children and Young Persons (Employment) Act 1966 [Act 350].
The length of such notice shall be the same for both employer and employee and shall be determined by a provision made in writing for such notice in the terms of the contract of service, or, in the absence of such provision in writing, shall not be less than—
employer
“employer” means any person who has entered into a contract of service to employ any other person as an employee and includes the agent, manager or factor of such first mentioned person, and the word “employ”, with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, shall be construed accordingly;
four weeks’ notice if the employee has been so employed for less than two years on the date on which the notice is given;
six weeks’ notice if he has been so employed for two years or more but less than five years on such date;
eight weeks’ notice if he has been so employed for five years or more on such date:
Provided that this section shall not be taken to prevent either party from waiving his right to a notice under this subsection.
Notwithstanding anything contained in subsection (2), where the termination of service of the employee is attributable wholly or mainly to the fact that—
employee
“employee” means any person or class of persons— (a) included in any category in the First Schedule to the extent specified therein; or (b) in respect of whom the Minister makes an order under subsection (3) or section 2a;
the employer has ceased, or intends to cease to carry on the business for the purposes of which the employee was employed;
the employer has ceased or intends to cease to carry on the business in the place at which the employee was contracted to work;
the requirements of that business for the employee to carry out work of a particular kind have ceased or diminished or are expected to cease or diminish;
the requirements of that business for the employee to carry out work of a particular kind in the place at which he was contracted to work have ceased or diminished or are expected to cease or diminish;
the employee has refused to accept his transfer to any other place of employment, unless his contract of service requires him to accept such transfer; or
Employment 25
a change has occurred in the ownership of the business for the purpose of which an employee is employed or of a part of such business, regardless of whether the change occurs by virtue of a sale or other disposition or by operation of law, the employee shall be entitled to, and the employer shall give to the employee, notice of termination of service, and the length of such notice shall be not less than that provided under paragraph (2)(a), (b) or (c), as the case may be, regardless of anything to the contrary contained in the contract of service.
Such notice shall be written and may be given at any time, and the day on which the notice is given shall be included in the period of the notice.
day
“day” means— (a) a continuous period of twenty-four hours beginning at midnight; or (b) for the purposes of Part XII in respect of an employee engaged in shift work or in work where the normal hours of work extend beyond midnight, a continuous period of twenty-four hours beginning at any point of time;