What is Termination of Employment?
The phrase ‘termination of employment’ is not substantively defined in the Act. Section 170CB of the Act provides that an “expression has the same meaning in this Division as in the Termination of Employment Convention.” Article 3 of the Convention states that “[F]or the purpose of this Convention the terms termination and termination of employment mean termination of employment at the initiative of the employer”. Therefore, by virtue of s170CB, a termination of employment also means a termination of employment at the initiative of the employer. The words ‘terminate’ or ‘terminated’ are not defined in either the Act or the Convention. The failure to elaborate these terms, has produced uncertainty as to what circumstances constitute a termination of employment. In particular, there has been judicial debate over whether the breach of an employment contract at the initiative of the employer will also constitute a termination of employment under the Act. In consideration of this issue, two
