Employment Lawyers in Perth

If you have been dismissed

Dismissal claims move fast. Some have time limits as short as 21 days, so the sooner you get advice, the more options you have.

An unfair dismissal claim says your employer ended your employment in unfair circumstances – that the dismissal was harsh, unjust, unreasonable or oppressive, or that you were not given a "fair go all round". Generally, a dismissal is unfair if:

• there was no valid reason for it;
• the process that led to it was unfair; or
• other circumstances meant you should not have been dismissed.

Claims are made to an industrial commission. Your employer responds, and there is usually a mediation or conciliation conference – an informal meeting to try to settle the matter. If it cannot be resolved there, a hearing decides whether your claim succeeds and what remedy you receive.

If you are facing a disciplinary process, your employer should give you clear and detailed allegations, a real chance to respond to the evidence and to any proposed action, and genuine consideration of your answer. An unfair disciplinary process that ends in dismissal may support an unfair dismissal claim.

Adverse action and unlawful treatment

It is unlawful for your employer to take negative action against you for a prohibited reason. Depending on the laws that cover your employment, this is called a general protections (adverse action) claim or a damaging action claim. Negative action can include:

• dismissal;
• anything that lessens the status or security of your job;
• making your employment worse in some way; or
• treating you less favourably than other employees.

That action is unlawful if it was taken because of your workplace rights – including making a claim, complaint or enquiry about them – or because of a personal characteristic protected by anti-discrimination law. If a court decides in your favour, compensation is not capped, though it must be caused by the unlawful action. It can cover lost income, out-of-pocket expenses, and hurt, humiliation and distress.

Underpayments and unpaid entitlements

Every employee in Australia has minimum conditions of employment, set by legislation, an industrial award or an industrial agreement. Which applies depends on your employer, your industry and your job. They cover things like your classification and rate of pay, overtime and penalty rates, leave, flexible working arrangements, notice of termination and redundancy pay.

An employer who does not give you a minimum entitlement may have broken the law. Depending on the entitlement, you can enforce it through a court claim or by referring a dispute to an industrial relations commission.

Rights that come from your contract, rather than a minimum standard, are enforced differently. Court is one option, but in WA a denied contractual benefit claim to the WA Industrial Relations Commission is often cheaper and easier.

Bullying, discrimination and sexual harassment

Your employer must take all reasonably practicable steps to remove or reduce health and safety risks at work. That includes bullying and psychosocial hazards such as unmanageable workloads, micromanagement, lack of control over your work, and organisational injustice.

Workplace bullying is repeated, unreasonable behaviour that puts health and safety at risk and is not reasonable management action. You can apply to an industrial commission for orders to stop it. Those orders are binding and practical, but they cannot compensate you for bullying that has already happened.

Discrimination means being treated less favourably at work because of a protected characteristic – including race, sex, gender, sexual orientation, caring responsibilities, disability, age, religion or political opinion. Sexual harassment is a form of discrimination, and it is judged objectively, so what the other person intended is not the point. Complaints go to the Australian Human Rights Commission or the Equal Opportunity Commission, and are usually conciliated before being referred elsewhere for a decision.

Where bullying or harassment has caused a psychological injury such as anxiety, depression or PTSD, you may also have a workers' compensation claim.