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Unjustified dismissal claims

3,879 Employment Relations Authority determinations, newest first.

An unjustified dismissal claim is a personal grievance under s 103(1)(a) of the Employment Relations Act 2000: the employee says the employer had no proper basis to end the employment, or ended it unfairly. The Authority applies the test in s 103A: whether what the employer did, and how it did it, were what a fair and reasonable employer could have done in all the circumstances at the time. That includes whether the employer investigated its concerns, raised them with the employee, gave a reasonable chance to respond, and genuinely considered the response. The grievance must usually be raised with the employer within 90 days (s 114). Remedies under s 123 include reinstatement, lost wages and compensation for hurt and humiliation. The Employment Relations Amendment Act 2026 changed these rules from 21 February 2026, and the Authority has decided earlier dismissals under the law in force when they happened. Under the new rules a dismissal is not unjustified only because of process defects that did not treat the employee unfairly (s 103A(5)); an employee whose own conduct contributed to the situation cannot be awarded reinstatement or compensation (s 123C), or any remedy if that conduct was serious misconduct (s 123B), and other remedies can be reduced by up to 100% (s 124); and an employee whose annual remuneration is $200,000 or more cannot bring an unjustified dismissal grievance, or an unjustified disadvantage grievance relating to the dismissal (ss 113A and 113B), subject to a transitional exception for some existing employees.

Related: Constructive dismissal claimsUnjustified disadvantage claimsInterim applications

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