Managing people

You should discuss the matter with the employee in private to determine why he or she feels they must leave. Ask whether the issue is employment related and if anything could be done to increase their chances of staying on.

The first step is to put your decision in writing and hold a meeting with the staff member. You should also consider having a third party attend and inviting the staff member to bring a third party too.

sually a business will fire an employee if they have either clearly broken a workplace policy, or have committed a serious crime. However, it is more likely a sacking will occur when a policy has been broken. These can relate to occupational health and safety regulations, sexual harassment or even privacy. You are right to expect a reasonable level of behaviour in your workplace, and if this is not being met, following a number of warnings, you may be able to fire the employee. Some of these grounds could include theft, fraud, violence or the threat of violence and breaching health and safety policies. Also consider policies around information technology and what staff are, or aren’t, allowed to share over corporate networks and the internet. Breaches of policy could include sharing pornography over a network, or giving out other inappropriate material. Monitor the use of social media. Following some recent legal cases there are now grounds to fire staff based on comments made on social media – especially if those comments are made during work. Make sure these policies and procedures are clear, documented and are known to all employees. No staff member should have an excuse if a workplace policy is broken.

You should first be absolutely sure the redundancy is necessary for the business to continue. Fair Work will only accept that a redundancy is genuine if you are unable to move the employee to another role or area within the business.

If you are employing casual or part-time employees, you will need to contact Fair Work and get advice on what awards will apply to your industry and subsequent pay rates.

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