Getting fired from your job can be devastating, so you want to know if you’ve been terminated fairly or not. Even though employers can legally fire their employees with or without cause, all terminations must be done under fair conditions.

The conditions for the following factors differ between without cause and just cause terminations.

If you were fired without cause, your former employer no longer needs your services and does not want to provide a specific reason. In without cause situations, being fair means the employer has to do two things:

1. Provide severance pay: Your employer is obligated by law to pay set amounts for severance pay.
2. Give you a notice period: Your employer has to give you notice that you are going to be fired for no reason.

If these two criteria for fair treatment are not met, your employer may be liable to compensate you for unfair dismissal damages.

Employers must have a very good reason before they fire someone for cause. Your employer also does not have to give you a notice period or severance pay if the employer has a good reason, or “just cause,” to fire you.

If these criteria are not met or your employer cannot prove just cause, a judge can award you damages for wrongful dismissal.