60-4-1      Death or incapacity of employer.
60-4-2      Expiration of appointed term--Extinction of subject--Death or incapacity of employee.
60-4-3      Employee must continue in certain cases.
60-4-4      Termination at will.
60-4-5      Neglect or breach of duty--Incapacity to perform.
60-4-6      Breach of obligation of employer.
60-4-7, 60-4-8. Repealed.
60-4-9      Discharge of employee--Misconduct or immorality.
60-4-10      Discharge of employee--Concealment of misconduct.
60-4-11      Discrimination against employee off-duty use of tobacco.
60-4-12      Presumption of good faith disclosure of employment information to prospective employers.

60-4-1. Death or incapacity of employer.

An employment in which the power of the employee is not coupled with an interest in its subject is terminated by notice to the employee of:

(1)    Death of the employer; or

(2)    Legal incapacity of the employer to contract.

Source: CivC 1877, § 1150; CL 1887, § 3773; RCivC 1903, § 1469; RC 1919, § 1093; SDC 1939, § 17.0402; SL 2008, ch 276, § 26.

60-4-2. Expiration of appointed term--Extinction of subject--Death or incapacity of employee.

An employment is terminated:

(1)    By expiration of its appointed term;

(2)    By extinction of its subject;

(3)    By death of the employee; or

(4)    By legal incapacity of the employee to act as an employee.

Source: CivC 1877, § 1150; CL 1887, § 3773; RCivC 1903, § 1469; RC 1919, § 1093; SDC 1939, § 17.0402; SL 2008, ch 276, § 27.

60-4-3. Employee must continue in certain cases.

An employee, unless the term of the employee's service has expired, or unless the employee has a right to discontinue it at any time without notice, shall continue service after notice of the death or incapacity of the employer so far as is necessary to protect from serious injury the interests of the employer's successor in interest, until a reasonable time after notice of the facts has been communicated to the successor. The successor shall compensate the employee for the service according to the terms of the contract of employment.

Source: CivC 1877, § 1151; CL 1887, § 3774; RCivC 1903, § 1470; RC 1919, § 1094; SDC 1939, § 17.0403; SL 2008, ch 276, § 28.

60-4-4. Termination at will.

An employment having no specified term may be terminated at the will of either party on notice to the other, unless otherwise provided by statute.

Source: CivC 1877, § 1152; CL 1887, § 3775; RCivC 1903, § 1471; RC 1919, § 1095; SDC 1939, § 17.0401.

60-4-5. Neglect or breach of duty--Incapacity to perform.

An employment even for a specified term may be terminated at any time by the employer for habitual neglect of duty, continued incapacity to perform, or any willful breach of duty by the employee in the course of employment.

Source: CivC 1877, § 1153; CL 1887, § 3776; RCivC 1903, § 1472; RC 1919, § 1096; SDC 1939, § 17.0404; SL 2008, ch 276, § 29.

60-4-6. Breach of obligation of employer.

An employment even for a specified term may be terminated by the employee at any time for any willful or permanent breach of the obligations of the employer to the employee as such.

Source: CivC 1877, § 1154; CL 1887, § 3777; RCivC 1903, § 1473; RC 1919, § 1097; SDC 1939, § 17.0404.

60-4-7, 60-4-8. Repealed by SL 1971, ch 274, § 16.

60-4-9. Discharge of employee--Misconduct or immorality.

An employer may discharge any employee, whether engaged for a fixed term or not, if the employee is guilty of misconduct in the course of service or of gross immorality, though unconnected with the misconduct.

Source: CivC 1877, § 1163, subdiv 1; CL 1887, § 3786; subdiv 1; RCivC 1903, § 1482, subdiv 1; RC 1919, § 1106 (1); SDC 1939, § 17.0507 (1); SL 2008, ch 276, § 30.

60-4-10. Discharge of employee--Concealment of misconduct.

An employer may discharge any employee, whether engaged for a fixed term or not, if, being employed about the person of the employer or in a confidential position, the employer discovers that the employee has been guilty of misconduct before or after the commencement of service of such a nature that, if the employer had known or contemplated it, the employer would not have employed the employee.

Source: CivC 1877, § 1163, subdiv 2; CL 1887, § 3786, subdiv 2; RCivC 1903, § 1482, subdiv 2; RC 1919, § 1106 (2); SDC 1939, § 17.0507 (2); SL 2008, ch 276, § 31.

60-4-11. Discrimination against employee off-duty use of tobacco.

It is a discriminatory or unfair employment practice for an employer to terminate the employment of an employee due to that employee's engaging in any use of tobacco products off the premises of the employer during nonworking hours unless such a restriction:

(1)    Relates to a bona fide occupational requirement and is reasonably and rationally related to the employment activities and responsibilities of a particular employee or a particular group of employees, rather than to all employees of the employer; or

(2)    Is necessary to avoid a conflict of interest with any responsibilities to the employer or the appearance of such a conflict of interest.

Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, the sole remedy for any person claiming to be aggrieved by a discriminatory or unfair employment practice as defined in this section shall be as follows: the person may bring a civil suit for damages in circuit court and may sue for all wages and benefits which have been due up to and including the date of the judgment had the discriminatory or unfair employment practice not occurred. However, nothing in this section may be construed to relieve such person from the obligation to mitigate damages. It is not a discriminatory or unfair employment practice pursuant to this section for an employer to offer, impose or have in effect a health or life insurance policy that makes distinctions between employees for the type of coverage or the cost of coverage based upon the employees' use of tobacco products. The provisions of this section shall not apply to full-time firefighters.

Source: SL 1991, ch 410.

60-4-12. Presumption of good faith disclosure of employment information to prospective employers.

Any employer or agent of the employer, who in writing, discloses information about the job performance of an employee or former employee to a prospective employer of that person at the written request of the prospective employer or the employee or former employee is presumed to be acting in good faith and, unless lack of good faith is shown by clear and convincing evidence, may not be held liable for the disclosure or its consequences. Any written response to the written request shall be made available to the employee or the former employee upon written request. For purposes of this section, the presumption of good faith is rebutted upon a showing that the employer or agent of the employer:

(1)    Recklessly, knowingly, or with a malicious purpose, disclosed false or deliberately misleading information; or

(2)    Disclosed information subject to a nondisclosure agreement or information that is confidential under any federal or state law.

Source: SL 1996, ch 301.