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Employment Law

Safeguarding Your Workplace Rights, Expert Assistance for Unfair Dismissal and General Protections in Employment Law

Dismissal Lawyer in Melbourne

Unfair Dismissal

Have you been unfairly dismissed by your employer?

Do you suspect that your employer may be about to terminate your employment on grounds that would be unfair?

If you answered yes to one of the above questions, it is important to obtain legal advice fast. Once terminated by your employer, you only have 21 days in order to make a claim for unfair dismissal against your employer.

Please contact us today to schedule a consultation and we will work with you to provide urgent advice about whether you are eligible to make a claim to the Fair Work Commission.

Employment Lawyer in Melbourne

General Protection Claims

The general protections provisions protect employees from adverse action being taken against them by their employer in the exercise of a workplace right, in situations where the employer infringes on the exercise of a workplace right by:

use of coercion;
use of undue influence and pressure;
making misrepresentations to the employee; and/or
unlawful discrimination.

It is important to note that for there to be a breach of general protections, the adverse action taken by the employer against a person must be infringing upon an employee’s exercise of a workplace right. It is not uncommon for self-represented litigants to mistake a workplace right with their individual rights. These are two separate rights. If an employer infringes on an employee’s individual rights, the employee may still have a claim against their employer, but it may not fall within the scope of a general protections claim.

Section 341 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) broadly states that a person has a workplace right, if the person:

is entitled to a benefit or has a role or responsibility under a workplace law, workplace instrument (such as an award or agreement) or an order made by an industrial body
is able to initiate or participate in a process or proceedings under a workplace law or workplace instrument
has the capacity under a workplace law to make a complaint or inquiry:
- to a person or body to seek compliance with that workplace law or workplace instrument
- if the person is an employee, in relation to their employment

Accordingly, if you are making a general protections claim, you should obtain expert legal advice to determine whether or not your employer has taken adverse action against you in the exercise of a workplace right.

It is important to act fast, as if an employer has dismissed you contravention of a workplace right, you have 21 days to make a claim to the Fair Work Commission. If there has been a breach of general protections without dismissal, then you have up to 6 years to make a claim.

If you believe your employer has taken adverse action against you in contravention of a workplace right, please contact us today to schedule an urgent consultation.

*The above is not legal advice nor is it intended to be relied upon as legal advice and it is general information only. Accordingly, we disclaim any and all liability that may arise should you act upon the above general information as legal advice. If you would like for us to provide you with legal advice, please contact us to schedule a consultation. If we are formally engaged by you then we will provide you with tailored legal advice based upon your specific circumstances.

Helping you win your case

Meet your solicitor in Melbourne

Zac was admitted to practice law at the Supreme Court of Hobart in 2017, where he completed his qualifications and trainings to practice law. In Hobart, Zac obtained world class training as a lawyer and an advocate, regularly appearing before judges in both the Magistrates Court and Supreme Court of Hobart as part of his legal practice course.

Zac relocated to Melbourne in 2018 where he began his journey working in law and Zac has obtained experience in diverse areas of law including family law, civil litigation, wills and estates, criminal law, taxation, SMSF and employment law.

Zac is a competent and capable lawyer, able to draw from his vast and rich experience to provide advice across a whole variety of areas of law.

Given his training as a legal advocate, Zac can and does regularly appear in Court on behalf of his clients. The benefit being that clients do not have to pay additional legal fees to brief a barrister. Zac has appeared in multiple jurisdictions across Australia including:

Hobart and Victorian Magistrates’ Courts;
NSW Local Court;
Hobart Supreme Court;
Fair Work Commission;
Federal Circuit Court and Family Court of Australia; and
Federal Court of Australia.

In circumstances where barristers are required or requested by clients, Zac relies upon his network of legal practitioners to find a suitable barrister to brief to provide specialist advice and representation for his clients.