Whether you are dismissed, your contract is otherwise terminated, you resign, you are incapacitated or you die, you or your estate are entitled to the wages and benefits due up to that moment. That includes outstanding vacation leave, the notice period, medical aid and social security benefits.

Section 13(1) covers all five situations in the same breath, which is what makes it useful: the entitlement does not depend on whose fault the ending was. Benefits with respect to outstanding vacation and the notice period are named expressly. An employer withholding a final payment because of a dispute is not on firm ground; the Act treats what has been earned as owed.

Applies to: Every employee whose employment ends, and the estate of one who dies