Letter of termination of employment (serious misconduct)
Generally, employers must not terminate an employee’s employment unless the employer has given the employee written notice of the day of the termination of the employment (which cannot be before the day the notice is given). The written notice should specify the period of notice given (or payment in lieu of notice if the employee is not required to work the notice period) and the date the employment will end.
Summary dismissal for serious misconduct has immediate effect. It is a severe step to terminate an employee’s employment without providing notice of termination (or payment in lieu of notice), so you may wish to seek advice from one of HR Consultants about the matter before taking action.
Before making a definite decision to summarily dismiss an employee because of serious misconduct, you may wish to follow the steps below.
Step by step process
Step 1:Identify the serious misconduct and consider seeking advice
Identify exactly what the employee did that was unacceptable and the impact the misconduct had on the business.
What is serious misconduct?
The Fair Work Regulations define 'serious misconduct' as follows:
•willful or deliberate behaviour by an employee that is inconsistent with the continuation of the contract of employment; and
•conduct that causes serious and imminent risk to:
- the health or safety of a person; or
- the reputation, viability or profitability of the employer's business.
The Regulations also list the following conduct as being deemed serious misconduct:
•the employee, in the course of the employee's employment, engages in theft, fraud or assault;
•the employee being intoxicated at work;
•the employee refusing to carry out a lawful and reasonable instruction that is consistent with the employee's contract of employment.
Dismissing an employee without notice of termination (serious misconduct) is a serious step, so you may wish to seek advice from one of our HR Consultants about the matter before taking any action.
Step 2:Discuss the misconduct with the employee
•Immediately arrange a meeting with the employee, explain your intention in relation to continuing their employment. Advise the employee that they are able to have a support person present at that meeting. You should also have your own witness present at the meeting.
•Speak to the employee directly about the conduct to avoid making assumptions about the situation.
•At the meeting, present all the facts and evidence to the employee that surrounds the alleged misconduct. This may involve notes taken from interviews that you had with other employees or clients who may have seen what took place.
•You must then allow the employee to respond to the allegations and explain their actions, whether it be in that meeting, or to provide you with a written explanation at a later point in time.
You should keep a record of any meetings that you have with employees about their conduct. You may wish to use our Recording details of a meeting template on this site.
Step 3: Consider any alternate options
•After the meeting (or after the employee has responded to the alleged misconduct in writing), write a letter or email to the employee confirming the facts of the alleged misconduct, and also confirming their explanation. You should then state that you will consider all the evidence, and make a decision concerning the future of the employee's employment based on that evidence.
•If, after considering all the evidence (including statements given by witnesses), and after considering the employee's explanation, you come to the conclusion that the employee has in fact engaged in misconduct, you may then be able to terminate the employee without giving them any notice. This must be done in writing, and you should always give reasons as to why you are terminating the employee.
Otherwise depending on the severity of the misconduct, you may choose to:
•give the employee a written warning, or
•dismiss the person with notice or pay in lieu of notice.
Step 4: Draft the letter
If the employee’s action was serious misconduct that warrants summary dismissal, create an appropriate termination of employment letter. While you do not need to provide the employee with notice of termination for serious misconduct, it is best practice to provide written confirmation that you are ending their employment.
Ensure you include in the letter:
•the reasons for the termination of the employment
•when the employment will end, and
•that some termination payments may result in waiting periods for Centrelink payments.
This letter of termination template has been colour coded to assist you to complete it accurately. You simply need to replace the red < > writing with what applies to your employee and situation. Explanatory information is shown in blue italicsto assist you and should be deleted once you have finished the letter.
Step 5: Provide the employee with the letter
The reasons for the termination of employment should be explained to the employee verbally and he or she should be provided with the opportunity to ask questions. It is important to explain the information in the letter of termination of employment and ensure that the employee understands.
Some further tips you should consider are:
•After the meeting, the employee should also be immediately suspended from duty and escorted from the premises – this will act as a risk management process to protect the business' tangible and intellectual property
•The time taken by an employer to 'consider' all of the evidence immediately prior to making a decision should be between 1-3 business days, depending on the circumstances.
•You should keep a copy of the letter of termination of employment for your records.
By strictly following the above steps, your business will be in a strong position to defend any possible unfair dismissal application made by the former employee after termination.
However, you may wish to seek advice from one of our HR Consultants about the matter before taking any action.
Important note:
The following template has been colour coded to help you complete it as follows:
• replace the red < > writing with what applies to your employee and situation.
• explanatory information is shown in blue italicsand should be deleted once you have completed the agreement.
An employee may choose to submit a complaint or claim against you (e.g. unfair dismissal, discrimination) even if you follow these steps.
Also, if you operate a small business it is important that you follow the Small Business Fair Dismissal Code when terminating an employee’s employment. You will find a copy of the Small Business Dismissal Code on this site.
Print on your business letterhead
Date
Private and confidential
Insert employee’s full name
Insert employee’s residential address
Dear insert name
Termination of your employment
I am writing to you about the termination of your employment with <insert company name.
I refer to our meeting on <insert date> which was attended by you and <insert name of others at the meeting>. During the meeting we discussed <insert details of serious misconduct, including the date it occurred.
As discussed during the meeting, your conduct during that incident
(Add the statement below which suits the situation, and delete the points below which are not applicable. Alternatively you can add your own specific details if you believe they warrant summary dismissal).
was wilful or deliberate behaviour by you. OR
caused a serious and imminent risk to the health or safety of a person. OR
caused a serious and imminent risk to the reputation, viability or profitability of the Employer's business in that <insert details>. OR
was conduct in the course of your employment engaging in theft. OR
was conduct in the course of your employment engaging in fraud. OR
was conduct in the course of your employment engaging in assault. OR
you were intoxicated at work. OR
you refused to carry out a lawful and reasonable instruction that was consistent with your contract of employment.
We believe in this circumstance your continued employment during a notice period would be unreasonable and consider that your actions constitute serious misconduct warranting summary dismissal.
You will be paid any accrued entitlements and outstanding remuneration, including superannuation, up to and including the date of this letter.
Yours sincerely,
<Insert name>
<Insert position>
PLEASE KEEP A COPY OF THIS LETTER FOR YOUR RECORDS