FECT Legal and Related

    Domestic inquiries and their importance in Labour Law    FT - Tuesday, 28 September 2021  Recent Supreme Court pronouncements in Barberyn Reef Hotel Ltd. Vs. Suriyarachchige Raju (SC No. 132/2016) and R. Chandrasena Vs. The Monetary Board (SC No. 148/2012) have given added emphasis to the importance of holding a domestic inquiry once an employee has committed an offence/misconduct, which in the eyes of an employer warrants stern disciplinary action and would most often include the termination of his/her services. It is important to understand why a domestic inquiry should be held in the first place and the far-reaching effects of its decision in the context of labour law.  The mandate of an inquiry officer holding a domestic inquiry relating to a misconduct(s) is to determine whether the specific charge(s) levelled against the employee had been established or not. Unlike in India there is no statutory requirement in Sri Lanka necessitatin...

Daily Mirror 20 August 2021 Link - Work for the day of employee completed or not to be decided by employer not employee : SC Financial Times 28 September 2021 - Feature Article    De Saram Lawyers Lessons - Termination on the Grounds of Misconduct The Supreme Court in a judgment relating to an industrial dispute case held that it is a matter for the employer, not the employee to decide whether the work for the day of an employee was completed or not. Supreme Court three-judge-bench comprising Justice Buwaneka Aluwihare, Justice Vijith K. Malalgoda and Justice E.A.G.R. Amarasekara delivered this judgment in respect of an appeal filed by a hotel chef challenging the termination of his services from a hotel in Beruwala. He was accused of sleeping while on duty. The Supreme Court further held that once an employee reports to work the common norm is that the employee would remain in his or her workstation until the end of the duty hours. The Supreme Court upheld the High Court j...