Employee termination in Australia

Start hiring in Australia

Hire and pay talents
with Horizons in
180+ countries

[hiring_sidebar]

Valid reasons to terminate employment in Australia

It is difficult to terminate an employee in Australia unless an employer has a valid reason. Some valid reasons to terminate an employee include:

The employee does not fulfill all the requirements of the role
Poor work performance or lack of care
Misconduct, inappropriate or dangerous behaviour at work
The position is no longer available or needed for the business to operate

Unfair reasons to terminate employment in Australia

There are several reasons that could constitute unfair dismissal in Australia. Some of these reasons include:

The person was dismissed in a harsh, unjustly or unreasonable manner
The person works for a small business and the dismissal breaches the termination rules as set out by the Small Business Fair Dismissal Code.
The dismissal was not a genuine redundancy

In simple terms, if a dismissal could be considered unjust, harsh or unreasonable. For a dismissal to be considered either of these sentiments, there must be proof that:

There was no valid reason for the dismissal
No notice was given or opportunity to respond by the employee
There was no support person allowed at dismissal discussion
Lack of HR services to guide a business dismissal procedure

Dismissal procedure in Australia

This is the standard dismissal procedure in Australia when terminating an employment contract.

Organise a meeting and offer that the employee bring a support person to the meeting.
Treat the employee in a fair and reasonable manner when delivering the news, and be open to responses.
Ensure that you are providing the adequate compulsory notice period or any other alternative arrangements based on the legislation and employees wishes.
Provide a written notice that outlines the reason for the dismissal.

Once an employee has left the role after the designated notice period ends, ensure all annual leave, payment in lieu, severance pay or any other payments are finalised.

Resignation procedure in Australia

There is no set resignation process in Australia. Employees should give the amount of notice necessary or stipulated in their employment contracts when resigning from their position.

Hire borderless talent with Horizons

Hiring in Australia, Made Easy

Your business can easily hire employees in Australia without opening a local entity. We handle local employment law, complex tax regulations, and international payroll in 180+ countries worldwide. All you need to do is focus on your business.

FAQs

Is it difficult to terminate employment in Australia?

Australia labour laws make it difficult to terminate employees unless there is a valid reason behind the termination and the employer meets other minimum notice and termination standards outlined under the Fair Work Act 2009.

What are the risks of terminating employment in Australia, and how do I mitigate them?

There is a risk that if you do not meet or have a legitimate dismissal procedure in place that meets Australian employment law standards, then a claim of unfair dismissal can be brought before the organisation. To mitigate this risk, you must ensure you understand all legislation and rules regarding termination.

Retaliation from a disgruntled employee is another risk, but if the dismissal procedure is handled professionally, this can mitigate this from happening.

Success stories from businesses we’ve helped enter and grow in new markets.

Client Testimonials

"As a seed-stage, London-based startup, we were initially hesitant to expand internationally due to the administrative workload involved. Horizons took the headache out of the process, allowing us to hire a team of software engineers in Germany."

Gabor SzedlakCo-founder & COO at MindLabs (UK)

"I truly appreciated the thoroughness and the professionalism of Horizons personnel while we hired internationally with them. They were knowledgable on all subject matters pertaining to international employment."

Gary PaskyVP Software Development, PICS ITech (USA)

"On deciding to begin commercial activities in Asia Pacific, we needed a provider to handle the employment and remuneration of our workforce. With Horizons the result was fast, efficient, and fit-for-purpose. We recommend Horizons as an EOR provider.”

Chris MorrellManaging Director, Schaeffler Group (Germany)

"The collaboration with the Horizons team is excellent. Both our local employee as well as our HQ in Germany are more than pleased with the support provided and the simplicity of the service. We can highly recommend the Horizons solution to anyone."

Christoph EngelbertCo-Founder & CTO, Clevabit (Germany)

"We needed an EOR that could provide expert support for payroll in APAC. We are pleased with Horizons’ expertise and the fact that they are flexible, responsive, and easily accessible from Belgium. They were able to provide services within the short timeline we required."

Katia FlamandHuman Resources, Devian Chemicals (Belgium)