When is a dismissal considered fair?

A dismissal is considered appropriate, in labor law, when it meets the legal requirements established for it. The company must be able to support the causes invoked with the law and has followed the established process for such situations. Only two forms of dismissal are considered appropriate: disciplinary and objective. This possibility of declaring a dismissal as fair occurs as a result of the worker having resorted to legal channels in order to challenge the dismissal. The qualification of appropriate will be the task of the judge, who determines this category instead of issuing a verdict of inadmissibility or nullity. The most common causes that can justify a fair dismissal are:

• Objective causes: When there are economic, technical, organizational or production reasons that justify the termination of the employment contract. For example, a business restructuring that requires reducing the workforce.
• Serious and culpable breach of the worker: When the employee has committed serious faults, such as the repeated breach of his labor obligations, abandoning the job without justification, workplace harassment, etc.

The consequence of a dismissal being declared fair is the termination of the contract without the right to compensation or processing wages.

For example, at a company, an employee named Juan has accumulated several unexcused absences and has performed poorly at his job over an extended period of time. The company decides to take action and, after going through the proper process of warnings and disciplinary procedures, decides to fire Juan. The company documents all of Juan’s misconduct and poor performance appropriately.

Related concepts

• Indefinite employment contract.
• Eventual temporary employment contract due to production circumstances.
• Temporary work contract for interim.
• Employment contract for professional practices.
• When is a dismissal considered void?
• When is a dismissal considered unfair?