What are termination procedures?

​Termination of employment is one of the highest risk actions an employer can take. The Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) provides broad general protections upon termination for a wide scope of employment types, including casual employees. Whether termination occurs due to resignation, performance concerns, misconduct, redundancy or other reasons, employers must follow a careful and defensible process to minimise exposure to claims.

Chamberlains HR advises employers on lawful termination procedures, ensuring compliance with statutory obligations while protecting businesses from unfair dismissal and general protections risks.

Legal Framework and Procedural Risk

Employers are required to provide written notice of termination specifying the last day of employment, subject to limited exceptions. Minimum notice periods must also be considered and vary depending on an employee’s length of continuous service.

Regulators regard notice, final pay and dismissal processes as essential elements of procedural fairness, particularly where disciplinary concerns are involved. Errors in process or documentation can undermine an otherwise valid termination and significantly increase legal exposure.

Termination for Performance or Conduct

Where an employee’s performance or conduct is impacting business operations, termination may be an available option. However, termination in these circumstances is closely scrutinised and often contested.

Employers are generally expected to demonstrate that reasonable steps were taken to address issues before termination, including opportunities for improvement and fair consideration of employee responses. Poorly managed performance or conduct based terminations are a common source of disputes.

Chamberlains HR provides strategic advice on managing termination arising from performance or conduct concerns and assists with preparing defensible warnings and termination correspondence.

Serious Misconduct

Serious misconduct may justify summary dismissal and can include behaviour such as sexual harassment, unsafe conduct, unlawful activity, fraud or theft. These matters are legally complex and frequently involve investigations and competing factual accounts.

Given the significant risk of challenge, employers should seek legal advice before terminating employment for serious misconduct. Chamberlains HR supports employers to manage these matters carefully and lawfully.

Redundancy

Redundancy arises where a role is no longer required to be performed by anyone and there are no reasonable redeployment options available. While a genuine redundancy can exclude unfair dismissal exposure, failures in consultation or redeployment can result in claims and findings of sham redundancy.

This risk is heightened where modern awards or enterprise agreements impose specific consultation obligations.

Chamberlains HR assists employers to assess whether a redundancy is genuine and supports the preparation of compliant redundancy documentation and entitlements.

Resignation

When an employee resigns, notice requirements are typically governed by contracts, awards or enterprise agreements. Employers may have rights to deduct amounts where insufficient notice is given, subject to strict legal limits.

Chamberlains HR advises employers on managing resignations, notice periods and final payments, including employee access to leave during notice.

Final Pay and Entitlements

Regardless of the reason for termination, employers must ensure that all final entitlements are correctly calculated and paid. Failure to do so can result in regulatory action and financial penalties.

Final entitlements may include:

• Accrued annual leave
• Accrued or pro rata long service leave
• Redundancy pay and associated entitlements where applicable
• Outstanding wages up to the termination date
• Payments in lieu of notice
• Award based expense claims

Chamberlains HR assists employers to identify and calculate termination entitlements accurately and defensibly.

Our Support for Employers

Chamberlains HR supports employers at every stage of the termination process.

Our Team regularly assists with:

• Advising on lawful termination options and strategy
• Managing termination following performance or conduct issues
• Supporting serious misconduct investigations
• Advising on redundancy planning and compliance
• Preparing termination correspondence and documentation
• Assisting with final pay and entitlement calculations
• Defending unfair dismissal and general protections claims

Why Chamberlains HR?

Termination decisions are frequently challenged and even minor procedural errors can result in significant liability. Early and informed advice is critical to reducing risk and achieving finality.

Chamberlains HR provides employers with clear, practical and defensible guidance to manage termination processes lawfully and with confidence.