Contemporary Employment Relation Termination

In this case study, James, a 19 year old service assistant is employed by Even Faster Chicken store for 15 months been promoted to store manager. The employer, Fast Chicken Company originated form United States in 1930s and the founder’s children have expanded the business to a multi-national fast food organization. With 90 per cent of staff under 21 years of age, the company employs casual staff resulting high turnovers and workforce difficulties. The company had several Workplace Health & Safety injuries and incidents being reported including young workers not happy with the increased workloads and low wages. The objective of this case study examines the termination of James employment for his poor management practices in the workplace. The case study explores the reason of James’s termination whether it is unfair or unlawful dismissal with supporting arguments and presents an outcome of this assessment.

In today’s society, work is a central part of our lives providing us with security, identity and status. Because of this, termination of employment can be catastrophic. Australian industrial relations has always combined both economic rationalist and social justice perspectives, with the economic rationalist perspective more influential from the 1990s in particular. The election of the Rudd Labour government in late 2007 and the return of some employment protections shift the balance slightly back towards the social justice perspective.

The case study illustrates James’s poor management practices breached the company’s policy of serious incident of misconduct leading to unfair dismissal. Andrew Stewart (2008) claims where a worker is in serious breach of their obligations, the employer can generally terminate their employment with immediate effect. This power of summary dismissal operates as an exception to any requirement to give notice of termination. Under the common law, a party to a contract has the right to terminate in response to any