The opportunity to be heard by an impartial decision maker is at the heart of the rules
of natural justice and procedural fairness1
. The rules of natural justice apply
whenever the rights, property or legitimate expectations of an individual are affected
by a decision.
Decisions in the context of the management of alleged unsatisfactory performance
are administrative decisions that may clearly affect the rights or legitimate
expectations of Public Service employees and one must therefore apply the rules of
natural justice and procedural fairness.
Satisfying the rules of natural justice and procedural fairness will vary according to
the specific circumstances. There are however important basic principles that apply
to every situation: there are three basic principles employers must follow/adhere to:
these are commonly known as the hearing rule; the bias rule and the no evidence rule