Q & A: Employment

My Employer has told me I am fired, what can I do?

If an employer dismisses an employee, they must act in a fair and reasonable manner. This means that there must be a good reason for the dismissal, and the employer must follow a fair process in reaching the decision to dismiss the employee. Whether a fair procedure has been used will depend on the facts of the case, but the Department of Labour sets out that in general:

The provisions of the employment agreement must be followed.

An employee has the right to know what the problem is and that disciplinary action may be taken.

The employee should be advised that they have the right to have a representative present at any disciplinary meeting.

The employee must be given a genuine opportunity to put across their side of the story before the employer decides what to do.

The employer should investigate any allegations of misconduct thoroughly and in a manner that is impartial and without being influenced by irrelevant issues.

Generally speaking, the employee should be given clear standards to aim for and a genuine opportunity to improve. However, some forms of misconduct may be deemed so serious, that it can warrant instant dismissal. What constitutes this sort of misconduct may be set out in the employment agreement.

 The employer should treat all employees in the same circumstances in the same way, or be prepared to justify the difference.

If the employer decides to dismiss the employee after following a fair process, the employer must give a reasonable amount of notice to the employee (unless in the situation of serious misconduct). The employer may choose to pay out the notice period and not require the employee to physically work it. This must be clearly explained to the employee. If you think that your dismissal was unjustified, you may have grounds for a personal grievance. We recommend seeking legal advice as soon as possible as you must raise the personal grievance with your employer within 90 days of the action complained of occurring or coming to your attention.   We are able to help you with this.

Posted in: Employment