Unfair, unlawful and wrongful dismissals
Most Australians would be familiar with the terms “unfair dismissal”, “wrongful dismissal” and “unlawful dismissal”. What is the distinction between them?
An unfair dismissal is the termination of the employment of an employee in circumstances in which an industrial tribunal, such as the Fair Work Commission and the various State industrial and employment tribunals would regard as relevantly unfair that is to say there was no valid reason for the termination of employment and/ or it was harsh, unjust or unreasonable.
A unlawful dismissal is the termination of the employment of an employee in circumstances in which the law regards it as unlawful, that is to say the employer contravenes the law by dismissing an employee for a prohibited reason, for example because the employee exercised a workplace right or on the ground of the employee’s race or age or a disability, to name but a few.
A wrongful dismissal is not technically a legal term and is used in a generic sense to describe the termination of the employment of an employee “wrongly” for example in breach of his or her contract which may or may not also constitute an unfair or an unlawful dismissal.