ARTICLE · 16 MARCH 2011

Dismissal for serious misconduct: When have you gone too far?

Clayton Utz

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Employers may feel justified in summarily dismissing employees when they make what is seen as a serious mistake that hurts their business, but the employer might be the one in the wrong.

AustraliaEmployment and HR

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Key Points:

Employers may feel justified in summarily dismissing employees when they make what is seen as a serious mistake that hurts their business, but the employer might be the one in the wrong.

An employer may believe that where an employee's conduct has damaged the business' relationship with an important client, summary dismissal for misconduct is warranted. However, in dealing with this exact situation in Michelle de Leon v Spice Temple Pty Ltd [2010] FWA 3497, Fair Work Australia (FWA) not only ordered the employer to compensate the employee for 12 weeks' pay, but was also particularly scathing of the approach taken by the employer in the process.

The phone call and the termination

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