Best Methods Of Checking If Your Dismissal Is Unfair

For most people, employment is essential. While everyone appreciates the benefit of having an emergency fund, for many it’s simply not an option. The fact is that 50% of Australians live from paycheck to paycheck.

In short, you can’t afford to lose your job. When this does happen you should have had some warning, allowing you to work out what you’re going to do. But, if you’re unfairly dismissed you may not have this time and it can seriously impact your future career possibilities.

It’s important to know what constitutes unfair dismissal and what you can do about it.

Unfair Dismissal

Unfair dismissal is classified as when an employee is relieved of their job in an unreasonable manner, harshly, or without proper cause.

This means when you’ve lost your job without reason or you’ve been replaced without warning. In short, if you’ve been fired for any reason other than your ability to do the job, you’ve probably been unfairly dismissed.

It’s also worth noting that unfair dismissal can be a result of your employer not following the legal process, as defined in your employee handbook. The steps described in the handbook are there to protect you and help you improve, assuming it’s a performance-related issue.

What You Should Do

The law gives you 21 days to register an issue with the Fair Work Commission. That’s 21 days from when the dismissal took effect. That’s not a lot of time so it’s best to lodge your file as soon after your dismissal as possible.

To help you ascertain whether you’ve been unfairly dismissed you should speak to these excellent employment lawyers Melbourne. They can advise you regarding your dismissal and help you seek compensation for your changed situation and potential loss of earnings. 

It is important to note that you must be employed for at least 6 months before you’re able to claim unfair dismissal, or 12 months if you work for a small business.

Your employment lawyers will listen to the events that have happened and register the unfair dismissal for you. They will also help you to collect the necessary evidence and deal directly with your employers if needed. This saves you from having to speak to them as it may be too painful. It’s also more likely that the business will co-operate with lawyers.

The Outcome

The perfect outcome of an unfair dismissal claim would be to reinstate you and continue as though nothing had happened. However, in the majority of cases, this is not an option. The job is likely to have been filled and you probably won’t enjoy the working environment anymore.

Instead, you’ll usually be awarded a financial compensation. This will reflect a fixed amount as compensation for inconvenience and an amount to cover loss of earnings from when you lost the job until you can be reasonably expected to find another.

The idea is to help you stay afloat financially and move forward. Of course, this takes time which is why you should consider having an emergency fund.

Fabrizio VanMarcino
 

Fabrizio Van Marciano is a self-taught web designer, front-end web developer, and content creator. He is the founder of FVM.