THE JOHN TERRY SAGA HIGHLIGHTS THE DILEMMA FACED BY EMPLOYERS EVERYDAY

05/02/2010

The recent goings on with John Terry yet again raises questions about an employee’s duty to uphold their employer’s reputation outside work.

Employees owe a duty of fidelity and good faith to their employers and there will be occasions when an employer can discipline or dismiss an employee if their private life misdemeanours bring the employer into disrepute.

Chelsea Football Cub in this instance has rightly taken no action against John Terry who will remain their captain. Despite some heavy public criticism of Terry’s extra marital behaviour there is no link whatsoever between his conduct outside of work and the nature of his work. The right to a private life must be respected provided it does not impact on the job. In this case Terry’s actions have not damaged the reputation of the football club as Rothera Dowson employment law specialist John Buchanan explains:

“What employees get up to in their private lives, unless it directly affects their job, is largely their own business. An employer will have to be careful if they want to dismiss a member of staff without hard evidence that their actions have damaged the reputation of the company. Chelsea Football Cub was quick to terminate the employment of Adrian Mutu when he tested positive for a performance enhancing drug. Although the courts will deal with such issues on a case by case basis there is no doubt that Chelsea made the correct decisions in respect of both Terry and Mutu”.

What decision Fabio Capello will take remains to be seen, however since John Terry is not employed by the England Team he has a wider range of options at his disposal.

For advice about Employment Law, please contact John Buchanan on 0800 124 4012.