Case Study 6: Prolongee Right To Terminate Raja's Service?

Case Study 6: Prolonged sickness
Question 1: Was the employer right to terminate Raja’s service?
Yes, the employer is right to terminate Raja’s service. For Raja’s case, the employer is eligible to terminate his service under the ground of frustration of contract due to prolonged illness. Frustration of contract take place when performance of contract of employment is judged as impossible by some intervening event beyond control of either party not provided by the contract (Aminuddin, 2016). In the perspective of an employer, they have no mandatory responsible in keeping the employee and his or her respective positions open indefinitely (Buck, 2013). In Raja’s situation, he suffers from worsening health condition which exact date of recovery
The employer can consider to hire someone on a temporary contract basis to cover the work of Raja which at the same time keep Raja’s employment in effect till further notice on his return. As Raja has worked in Bulb Berry for more than 17 years, he has accumulated great experience in the job which the company will not be able to get a new employee and be trained in short terms to fully replace Raja’s work immediately after him being terminated. Having an employee with unexpected and beyond control illness or sickness is hard to tell how long will the treatment last and how fast can the recovery process be. For this reason, employer faces dilemma in deciding whether to terminate the service of the employee particularly if the employee is one of the elite employee in the company. In this case study situation, without Raja to perform the job assigned, works will put on hold, organizational performance is affected and in worst case organizational profit may suffer great loss. Thus in such situation, Bulb Berry company if choose to wait for the Raja’s recovery and phased return but did not want to bear any further loss, can consider hiring a temporary worker covering the work for Raja for the meantime he is away from his position and can have Raja’s colleagues to share part of his job which other job roles in the company will be
If the employment is terminated, the notice period will run from the date the disabled or ill employee's employment was terminated (Loh, 2012). Raja have to show that the employer did not notified his contract termination before his illness become permanent and the employer did not provide him with reasonable notice before considering the contract to be frustrated (Loh, 2012). For instance, Raja should be warned beforehand that his employment service could be ended in order to let Raja fully aware of the seriousness of the situation and ensure that Raja is made known of the action that will be taken. On the other hand, Raja need to first ensure he has notify the employer on his illness along with medical certificate from his doctor in charge immediately after his diagnosis to avoid employer accusing Raja of his failure to inform employer of his sickness. Raja can also demand the employer to show reasons of his termination such as prove that a pattern of absence exists and it is causing severe problems, and unlikely to get better and that he have been warned that dismissal is