Valid reason: what the Commission checks before accepting one
An employer needs more than a stated reason. It needs a reasonable investigation, an honest belief and a fair weighing of mitigating circumstances.
An employee is entitled to both substantive fairness, meaning the grounds for dismissal are actually fair grounds, and procedural fairness, meaning the process and investigation leading to the decision were reasonable. Where the dismissal is based on alleged misconduct, the Fair Work Commission's guidance sets out what an employer must show, so far as was within its power, before dismissing someone.
What the employer has to demonstrate
- It conducted as full and extensive an investigation into the alleged misconduct as was reasonable in the circumstances.
- It gave the employee every reasonable opportunity and sufficient time to answer the allegations and respond.
- Having done those things, it honestly and genuinely believed, on reasonable grounds available at the time, that the employee was guilty of the misconduct alleged.
- It took into account any mitigating circumstances, either connected to the misconduct or the employee's work record, before concluding dismissal was justified.
The Fair Work Commission's own guidance is direct about the consequence of getting any of this wrong: "A failure to satisfactorily establish any of those matters will probably render the dismissal harsh, unjust or unreasonable." A stated reason that is true is not, by itself, enough; the investigation and the honesty of the belief behind it are tested too.