Under the new national workplace system, there are new unfair dismissal laws for small businesses and their employees.

Special arrangements

There are special unfair dismissal arrangements that apply to small businesses.

These arrangements simplify the dismissal process for small businesses.

They recognise that small businesses usually:

• don't have big human resource departments to help them
• can't afford lost time
• can't find other positions for employees.

Small business employers will benefit from:

• a minimum employment period of 12 months instead of 6 months (employees can’t make an unfair dismissal claim in this 12-month period)
• a simple Fair Dismissal Code to help employers ensure dismissals are not unfair
• a specialist service for small and medium sized businesses from the Fair Work Ombudsman.

There’s also a helpful checklist that small business employers can follow to ensure the dismissal is not unfair.