What is a Qualifying Period?
Are you aware of what a Qualifying Period is? In this blog post, we'll explore what a Qualifying Period means and how it impacts employers and employees alike. We'll discuss the minimum employment period, who it applies to, and what it entails. Additionally, we'll delve into the importance of the Qualifying Period and how it serves as an evaluation period for both employers and employees.
A qualifying period is commonly used to refer to the minimum employment period under the Fair Work Act. This is separate from an employer's probation period, although the two periods may overlap.
Under section 383 of the Fair Work Act 2009, the minimum employment period is 12 months if the employer is a small business employer with fewer than 15 employees. If the employer has 15 or more employees, the minimum employment period is 6 months.
What this means is that a new employee must meet the minimum employment period before they are eligible to make an unfair dismissal application if their employment is terminated. If you wish to terminate an employee during this period, you still need to provide any required notice in accordance with the National Employment Standards and any applicable award, enterprise agreement or employment contract.
What if the employee resigns or is dismissed during this period?
If the employee wishes to resign during this period, they may need to give appropriate notice in accordance with an applicable award, enterprise agreement or employment contract.
However, the qualifying period is not a get-out-of-jail-free card for employers to dismiss an employee without reason. If a dismissed employee has not completed their minimum employment period before being terminated, they may not be eligible to make an unfair dismissal application. However, they are not prevented from potentially bringing an adverse action claim against an employer under section 340 of the Fair Work Act.
What About Casual Employees?
Periods of service as a casual employee do not count towards the minimum employment period unless the employee was a regular casual employee and had a reasonable expectation of continuing employment by the employer on a regular and systematic basis.
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