Unfair Dismissal Myths Worth Unlearning

What Do People Get Wrong About Unfair Dismissal?

The most damaging myth is that probation, a fixed-term contract, or gig style work removes all protection.

That is not accurate, and the actual rule is worth stating plainly.

The burden falls on the employer, not the employee, to prove the dismissal was for just cause or excuse once a claim is made ¹.

That rule does not disappear because someone was still on probation or working under a short-term arrangement.

Myth: Only Employees Under A Certain Salary Can Claim

Many workers assume unfair dismissal protection only applies below a specific income level, because they have heard about wage thresholds in the Employment Act.

Unfair dismissal protection under Section 20 of the Industrial Relations Act covers all workmen, so a claim can exist even where Employment Act benefit provisions do not apply ².

Those are two different laws answering two different questions, and mixing them up leads people to assume they have no options when they actually do.

Myth: Resigning Or Filing A Claim Settles Everything Automatically

Resigning does not automatically remove your rights if the resignation was effectively forced by the employer’s conduct.

That situation is assessed separately, and it is worth reading about how constructive dismissal is actually judged before assuming a resignation closed every door.

Filing a claim also does not settle anything by itself, since a case still has to be assessed on its own facts before any outcome follows.

If any of these myths sound familiar, it is worth checking your own situation directly with an employment lawyer and confirming your deadline with a deadline calculator.

Myths like these usually spread through casual conversation, often from someone describing their own experience as if it were a general rule.

A friend’s outcome depends on their own contract, their own length of service, and their own specific facts, none of which automatically transfer to your situation.

Treat general advice from people around you as a starting point for questions to ask, not as a final answer.

Reading about your specific segment, whether that is probation, a fixed-term contract, or gig style work, is a safer next step than relying on secondhand stories.

Writing your situation down in plain terms before you speak to anyone also helps separate what you actually know from what you have simply heard repeated.

Facts first. Assumptions later.

Write down only what you actually know.

Check the rest before you rely on it.