Dismissed Over Alleged Misconduct?

You received a show-cause letter, or were told you were being dismissed for misconduct. Whether that dismissal was fair depends on the reason given and the process that led to it.

What counts as dismissal for misconduct?

Misconduct dismissal covers things like theft, dishonesty, insubordination, harassment, or a serious breach of company rules. The alleged act has to be real and provable, not just a manager’s impression.

Your employer must show both a genuine reason and a fair process behind the decision. Neither one alone is enough.

Am I entitled to a domestic inquiry?

A domestic inquiry, an internal hearing before your employer decides, is standard practice for serious allegations, though not an absolute legal requirement in every case. It gives you a chance to hear the allegation clearly and respond to it.

Where one is held, natural justice still applies: you should know what you are accused of, and be given a genuine chance to answer.

What if I was dismissed without one?

Dismissal with no inquiry, no chance to explain yourself, and no clear finding is one of the easier situations to question. The absence of a process does not prove the reason was false, but it removes a layer of protection your employer should have offered.

Write down what happened instead: who told you, what was said, and whether you were ever asked for your side.

What makes a misconduct dismissal unfair?

Your employer carries the burden of proving both the misconduct and the fairness of the process, once a case reaches the Industrial Court.¹ A reason invented after the fact, or one that does not match your actual record, is exactly the kind of gap the Court looks for.

Inconsistent treatment matters too. If a colleague did something similar and kept their job, that comparison is worth raising.

What if the allegation is exaggerated or untrue?

Denying the allegation does not end the matter on its own, but a clear, dated account of your version of events carries real weight. Keep anything that supports your side: messages, witnesses, records that contradict the claim against you.

This is also where responding to a show-cause letter properly matters, since silence can be read the wrong way.

What is the deadline to act?

If you were dismissed, whether summarily or after an inquiry, you have 60 days from that date to make a written representation to the Director General of Industrial Relations.² If conciliation does not resolve it, the case goes directly to the Industrial Court.³

You can work out your exact deadline here once you have a dismissal date in mind.

What to do this week

Save the show-cause letter, any inquiry notes, and the dismissal letter itself. Write your own timeline of what happened, in order, with dates.

Then get a read on your situation before the 60 days runs down. An employment lawyer can tell you early whether the process your employer used holds up.