Capability/Qualifications Dismissal

Section 98(2)(a) ERA states that a dismissal is potentially fair if “it relates to the capability or qualifications of the employee for performing work of the kind which he was employed by the employer to do". Capability dismissals include the following:

• Incompetence or poor performance due to the employee’s inability to perform the job to the expected standard (as opposed to laziness/having a poor attitude towards work which will fall within conduct);

• Ill health, including both long-term illness and intermittent short-term absence from work (as opposed to unjustified absence which would fall within conduct); and

• Lack of qualifications, for example losing a requisite qualification or failing to obtain a new qualification required for the job (as opposed to lying about qualifications which would fall within conduct).