Guide · updated November 2026
The Small Business Fair Dismissal Code
If your employer has fewer than 15 employees and followed the Small Business Fair Dismissal Code, the dismissal isn't unfair.
What the Code expects
- Summary dismissal (without notice or warning) only for serious misconduct, where the employer reasonably believed it was serious enough
- Otherwise, a valid reason based on conduct or capacity, a warning, and a reasonable chance to improve
- The employee can have a support person in discussions about dismissal
For small business employees, the minimum employment period is also 12 months, not 6.
Free help and official information: Fair Work Commission: unfair dismissal · Fair Work Commission: legal help and representation (including the free Workplace Advice Service) · Legal Aid NSW: termination of employment · Fair Work Ombudsman: ending employment
Check your deadline and your case, free
FairGo Work calculates your exact last day to lodge, checks your eligibility and case strength, then builds your Form F2 answers and prepares you for conciliation.
Check my deadline Build my claimMore: The 21-day deadline for unfair dismissal · Who can claim unfair dismissal? · Unfair dismissal or general protections? · How much compensation for unfair dismissal? · Conciliation: what to expect · Filling in Form F2 · Was it a genuine redundancy? · Forced to resign: when it counts as dismissal