What is Unfair Dismissal?
Unfair dismissal is a legal remedy available to an employee whose employment has been terminated by his or her employer, where the termination is deemed 'harsh, unjust or unreasonable'. The maximum compensation that an employee can be awarded for unfair dismissal is six (6) months' wages.
An employee whose employment has been terminated cannot make an unfair dismissal claim if:
(a) the employer employs:
- less than 15 employees - the employee cannot make a claim in the first 12 months of their employment; or
- 15 or more employees - the employee cannot make a claim in the first 6 months their employment
(b) the person was employed under a contract of employment for a specified period of time, for a specified task, or for the duration of a specified season, and the employment has been terminated at the end of that period, upon the completion of the task, or at the end of that season;
(c) the person was employed under a training contract (i.e an apprenticeship) and the employment has terminated at the end of the training arrangement.
There are various factors that are taken into account by the Commission in order to determine whether a termination of employment was in fact 'harsh, unjust or unreasonable. Where an employer intends to terminate an employee's employment, specialist advice should always be sought before any steps are taken for termination.
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