It’s never easy to hear the words that you are fired. Of course, not every employer goes that way: they often calmly list the reasons that you have been dismissed from your role. The employee feels sad, embarrassed and worried about the future and an employer feels awkward and now has to fill that role all over again.
You may not feel like your dismissal is fair at the time, but what makes a dismissal fair or unfair? You have rights as an employee and if you’re not happy, you need to speak to a civil rights attorney and understand what your rights really are. The last thing that an employer wants is a lawsuit on their hands, and the last thing that an employee wants is to have a black mark on their employment record because they have been fired for any reason. With this in mind, we have listed the five fair reasons for dismissal.
- Misconduct. If you have behaved badly at work you’re going to be dismissed for it. Your conduct in the workplace is going to impact how your employer sees you, and this is going to lead to your dismissal. Misconduct includes harassment, theft, sharing of intellectual information outside the business, misbehaviour with regards to other employees and negligence in your role in general.
- Performance. If you have told your current employer that you are capable of doing a certain job and you are not capable of doing it with a low performance, then they’re not going to keep you on board. It’s a perfectly legitimate reason to be dismissed if you cannot perform the role for which you are being paid
- Redundancy. This is one of the better reasons to be dismissed, as it’s not because you have done something inherently wrong. Your role may not be required for the business anymore, so they are letting you go. This is a perfectly fair reason to let you go.
- Expired Visa. If you are currently on a working visa and you are working when your visa has expired or you have gone beyond your allowed hours of work, you will not be able to keep your job. Your employer will be keeping an eye on your restrictions and a formal dismissal procedure will be followed to move you out of the job you are in. It’s a fair reason for dismissal and in some extreme cases, you may not be able to stay in the country.
- More Reasons. You will find that there are far more reasons for dismissal that are perfectly fair, and it all depends on the context of the situation. If you are working in a way that is not safe, there is every chance that you could lose your job.
Speaking to a professional to ensure that you have been lawfully dismissed is the best way forward here, as you can get the feedback from a legal entity that will confirm you have not been let go for no reason.