When employees are dismissed or made redundant, employers must provide the required period of notice to the employee, or pay in lieu of notice.
In the WA state industrial relations system, the period of notice which employers must provide when a full time or part time employee is dismissed or made redundant is whichever is the longest number of weeks of notice required by:
- the relevant WA award or industrial agreement;
- the minimum notice periods in the national Fair Work Act outlined in the table below. These notice periods apply to employees in the state industrial relations system. Employees who are trainees (employed for a set period of time or for the length of the traineeship only), casual, fixed term or seasonal workers or who are dismissed for serious misconduct are excluded.
Payment in lieu of notice is generally allowed, but the payment must be at least the amount the employee would have received if they had worked during the entire notice period.
For employees who have been made redundant, the notice period is in addition to any required redundancy payments.
Notice periods for dismissal - Fair Work Act 2009
| Employee's period of continuous service | Minimum period of notice |
|---|---|
| Not more than 1 year | At least 1 week |
| More than 1 year but not more than 3 years | At least 2 weeks |
| More than 3 years but not more than 5 years | At least 3 weeks |
| More than 5 years | At least 4 weeks |
Employees over 45 years old who have completed at least 2 years of service when they receive notice are given an additional week of notice.
For further information on the Fair Work Act notice periods go to the Fair Work Ombudsman website
Casual employees
In the WA state industrial relations system, the period of notice which employers must provide when a casual employee is dismissed is whichever is the longest period of notice required by the relevant WA award or industrial agreement.
Resignation during the notice period
If the employee resigns during the notice period they are only entitled to payment for the part of the notice period that was actually worked.
