The minimum employment period: 6 months, or 12 for a small business
You need to have worked for the employer for at least this long before the dismissal to be eligible, and a change of business ownership does not necessarily reset the count.
Eligibility for an unfair dismissal claim requires completing a minimum period of employment before the dismissal. The Fair Work Commission's guidance states the figure directly: six months for most employers, or 12 months if the employer is a small business, defined as fewer than 15 employees.
Business changes ownership: does the clock reset?
Not necessarily. The Fair Work Ombudsman's guidance notes that where there has been a change of business ownership, service with the first employer may count as service with the second employer when calculating the minimum employment period. Whether that applies to a specific sale of business is a case-by-case question this general explanation cannot answer.
What this does not cover
This site has not sourced the detailed rules for casual employees' service counting toward the minimum period beyond what is stated on the casual employees guide, and has not opened the Fair Work Act's own text setting out the precise statutory definitions behind this rule. What is stated here traces directly to the Fair Work Commission and Fair Work Ombudsman guidance pages listed below.
Where this came from
- Fair Work Commission: Who the law protects from unfair dismissal.
- Fair Work Ombudsman: Unfair dismissal.