LAW 266 ^^(i — Tthe law and the servant
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L a C'jiitiiiuM from pa^e il3. Fart J. Contract of Service-Length of Notice Required-Circumstances which Justify Immediate Dismissa sobriety would scarcely be sufficient, unless accompanied by circumstances which ren- dered it so. Thus a master might well hesitate before again exposing himself to the risk of being driven by an intoxicated chauffeur. Negligence If the contract of service is not to be
- performed within the year, it must be m
writing to be enforceable, although a parol agreement for more than a year is not necessarily void. A general hiring is a yearly one, but with regard to the general hiring of menial and domestic servants it is a well-established custom that the service may be determined by either party on giving a month's notice. A servant mav also be dismissed without notice on payment of a month's wages, but a servant is not justified in foregoing a month's wages in lieu of giving a month's notice. The reason for this is that it would lead to an intolerable state of things if servants were allowed suddenly to take their departure without giving their masters a reasonable opportunity of engaging others in their place. Servants whose wages are paid weekly are entitled to a month's notice or wages, unless there is some agreement to rebut the assumption of its being a general hiring. When the first month is to be one of trial, it should be so stipulated between the master and servant. Length of Notice If the hiring is a general one in regard to clerks and other servants of a superior class, it will be assumed to be for a year, and so on, until determined by a notice expiring at the end of some current year. It is impossible to say what length of notice is required, but probably three months would be sufficient. A manager of a shop who received a salary of £^0 a year which was paid monthly was held to be hired for a year. A foreman hired at £1 a week and a house to live in is hired by the week only. An engagement of an author to write tales weekly in a magazine for twelve months at the rate of ;£io a month is a yearly hiring. Governesses hAe been held ex*tkled to three rionths' notice, a sub-editor to six months . and an editor to twelve. A manu- facturer'-^ r.^ent 1. id at a yearly salary was held entitled to a month's notice only, as there was a well-established custom to that effect. Dismissal Witliout Notice A master or mistress is justified in dis- missing a servant without notice who is dishonest, intemperate, immoral, habitually negligent, disobedient, or incompetent. For theft, immorality, or drunkenness a servant may be sent away on the spot without notice and without wages ; but servants not residing in the house are not dismissable for immorality unconnected with their service. To justify instant dismissal for drunkenness, it would probably be necessary to prove that the servant was an habitual drunkard, or that the intoxication was accompanied by iolence or insolence ; a single lapse from There is, probably, only one kind of negligence which would justify the summary discharge of a domestic servant, and that is in certain cases where, owing to gross negligence on the part of the servant, some grave injury is done to the master ; as, for instance, where a nurse allows a child to fall out of window, or where it may result, as in leaving a house with young children un- attended. Using the word servant in the wider sense of the term, a master is justified in dismissing a clerk who has been gambling on the Stock Exchange or engaged in betting transactions, and thereby neglecting his master's business and exposing himself to temptation. Disobedience For disobedience to justify dismissal, the orders must have been within the scope of the servants' duties, and there is little doubt that the principle which was carried to extreme in some of the earlier cases would not now be enforced. For example, a ser- vant was dismissed for having visited against orders her dying mother, and the refusal of a man to take his master's horse to the marsh until he had had his dinner, which was ready for him, was held good cause for dismissal. A single act of disobedience which does not cause any loss to the master will not justify dismissal. For disobedience to j ustif y dismissal it would have to be of a serious kind, such as staying out all night contrary to orders, or for being repeated h'- disobedient to the orders and K-j'tiiatious laid down by the ma.ster. The tlisobedience* must be wilful, and the commands of the master reasonable. Wlien Mr. Pickwick visited the seminary for young ladies, late in the evening, and wa^ mistaken for a burglar, it was unrcascnable for the proprietress of the establishment to threaten the cook with instant dismis.sal because she would not go downstairs first to see who it was who was disturbing the household. Incompetence or Unskilfulness This will seldom justify in practice the dismissal of the average servant, and only applies to one hired for some specific pur- pose or paid extra wages on account of his skill. Such as a professed cook or a medical nurse, and in both cases it would be necessary to prove gross incompetence. To dismiss a servant without notice because the dinner was badly cooked, or because she had broken a valuable piece of crockery in the washing up, would probably be regarded by a County Court judge as a very high-handed proceeding. 7'o be conlinued.
