This article examines the possible adoption of the public law principles of ‘legitimate expectation’ and the standard of ‘proportionality’ as the appropriate and cohesive legal approach to voluntary promises that are normally found in ostensibly non-contractual documents. The article argues that, allowing a further development into the principle of legitimate expectation, which has already been adopted in employment relations as a further development of the implied duty of trust and confidence, could enhance the courts’ approach to the issue of voluntary promises and avoid the unsatisfactory contractual solution that appears to produce inconsistent results. Giving particular consideration to the courts’ application of the proportionality test, thereby recognises an employee’s hierarchy of interests, when seeking to justify an employer’s decision, this article assesses how the influence of the proportionality standard can, and should, offer a more satisfactory solution when applied to resolving disputes.

中文翻译：

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合法期望与比例原则：适用于雇佣私法的公法原则

本文探讨了可能采用“合法期望”和“比例”标准的公法原则作为对通常出现在表面上的非合同文件中的自愿承诺的适当且有凝聚力的法律方法的可能性。文章认为，允许进一步发展已在雇佣关系中作为信任和信任的隐含义务的进一步发展而被采用的合法期望原则，可以增强法院对自愿承诺问题的处理方法和避免看似会产生不一致结果的不令人满意的合同解决方案。在寻求为雇主的决定辩护时，特别考虑法院对比例测试的应用，从而承认雇员的利益等级，