Queensland Numbered Acts

PUBLIC SECTOR ACT 2022 - SECT 145

145 Summary dismissal and ending of employment

Nothing in this Act—

(a) limits or otherwise affects a right or power, of a chief executive of a public sector entity, under the common law to terminate a public sector employee’s employment, including summarily; or

Example of a right or power under the common law to summarily terminate employment—

A chief executive may have a right or power at common law to summarily terminate a public sector employee’s employment if the employee has engaged in serious misconduct, including, for example—

• wilful or deliberate behaviour that is inconsistent with the continuation of the employee’s employment

• conduct that causes serious and imminent risk to the health or safety of a person

• conduct that causes serious and imminent risk to the reputation of the public sector entity in which the employee is employed.

Example of a right or power under the common law to terminate employment—

A chief executive may have a right or power at common law to terminate a public sector employee’s employment for repudiation of the employment, including, for example, if the employee has abandoned the employment.

(b) prevents a public sector employee’s employment contract from ending by operation of law; or

Example of a public sector employee’s employment contract ending by operation of law—

A public sector employee’s employment contract may end under the doctrine of frustration, including, for example, if the employee is imprisoned or remanded in custody.

(c) limits or otherwise affects the contractual rights of the State or a public sector entity as an employer under the common law.