Fair work Australia is a web site set up by the Australian government. It enforces a law that makes it illegal to fire an employee except for cause. The web site lists 8 elements which can be considered under the Unfair Dismissal Law. There is a wiki article on the whole act.

This law is in stark contrast to the American practice of “employment at will.” Under this doctrine, an employee can be fired for any reason or no reason. There have been occasional moves toward the doctrine of “firing for cause,” but these have come to nothing. The Australian act was adopted in 2009, and went into effect in January. It will be interesting to see how and if the law shapes opinion in the United States.

Here’s some video describing the process that resulted in the legislation –

In my mind this is food for thought. Let’s see how the act works out. Maybe we can learn from their example.

James Pilant