This past financial year, Working Women’s Centre Victoria met with over 256 women and non-binary people who had lost their jobs in a harsh, unreasonable or unjust manner. This is called an unfair dismissal, and it continues to be one of the most common reasons people access our services.
Unfair dismissal can look like:
- Being fired without a valid reason
- Being fired without being notified of the reason and a chance to respond
- Being fired for underperformance without being warned about performance prior
For the people we work with, being let go unfairly doesn’t just mean a loss of a job. It has far-reaching financial, social and life impacts. It can compound existing financial hardships, and often hits people at moments of vulnerability, such as disability, visa insecurity, language barriers or even caring responsibilities. These are systemic injustices that need to be taken seriously.
It’s these systemic injustices that cause a legal issue to quickly snowball into a much larger life problem, exposing already at-risk communities to even greater vulnerabilities.
In this blog post, we’re outlining some of the keyways we are seeing unfair dismissal affect people’s lives through the work we do every day.
Workplace issues rarely happen in isolation.
By the time someone is unfairly fired, they’ve often already experienced other forms of workplace discrimination. In our unfair dismissal cases:
- 22.5% involve people with a disability
- 19.1% involve people whose first language isn’t English
- 40.4% involve people born outside of Australia
Discrimination around pregnancy, race, age, sex and gender are also common. Many of the people we help are facing intersecting hardships. When unfair dismissal and income loss aren’t the only challenges you are navigating it can make recovering your financial security, health and wellbeing even more difficult.
Unfair dismissal is more than a legal issue. It can quickly lead to financial hardship, housing and care insecurity, relationship stress and poor physical and mental health. Legal issues are overwhelming for most people, but when you are already struggling it can become near impossible to navigate alone.
Losing your job has a snowball effect
When you lose your source of income, the impact rarely stops at your pay cheque. As financial pressure builds, your time, energy, and emotional wellbeing feel the strain, too. Dealing with life’s challenges can be overwhelming. It often leaves you with little time, energy, or confidence to handle legal matters.
By resolving workplace issues early, we help prevent legal problems from becoming life problems.
Legal help is about rebuilding confidence too
Legal help can restore justice through monetary compensation, but in our work we see outcomes the extend beyond money alone. We support people to navigate a complex legal system, regain confidence, and move forward after experiencing workplace injustice.
We often find that our clients haven’t just lost their income. They’ve lost their confidence, security and sense of fairness too.
Preventing unfair dismissal means preventing more than job loss. Early legal intervention can stop a workplace issue from becoming a much larger life problem, helping people maintain financial security and avoid the compounding impacts that often follow.
Has this happened to you? You can get help.
We are here for women and non-binary people who are navigating unfair dismissal.
If you’re facing unfair dismissal, you have options. Unfair dismissal can include being fired without a valid reason, without proper warning, or in a way that’s harsh or unreasonable.
The Working Women’s Centre Victoria has a team of lawyers ready to provide free, confidential legal help. If you’re unsure, contact us. We can help you understand your rights, explore your options, and take action if needed.
We’re here to help any woman working anywhere in Victoria, even if you live in regional or remote areas. We can also organise an interpreter if you need.
Contact us today:
Call 1800 WWC VIC (1800 992 842), Mon-Fri 9am-3pm