Suspended from Work? Here’s Exactly What to Do Next

Being told you’re suspended is a gut punch. One day you’re at your desk, the next you’ve been walked out, your access has been cut, and you’re trying to work out what just happened and what it means.

This guide gives you a practical playbook for what to do next, including the exact email to send HR, how to assess whether you’re being quietly pushed out, and when (and when not) to resign.

If you’d rather talk it through with a specialist employment lawyer now, call Fair Workplace Solutions on 1800 565 975 for an initial consultation.

How to Handle a Work Suspension: Your 24-Hour Action Plan

Handling a suspension well means complying immediately with the suspension terms, staying off internal systems and away from colleagues, getting the allegations in writing, and starting your own private timeline of events from day one.

Here’s what to do in the first 24 hours, in order:

1. Hand back keys, passes, devices and access without arguing. Refusing to comply gives the employer ammunition. You can dispute the substance of the suspension later, for now, comply with the process.
2. Do not contact colleagues, clients or witnesses about the allegations. Texts, calls, “quick coffees” and DMs are the fastest way to escalate a suspension into a dismissal for “interfering with the investigation” or “witness tampering.”
3. Send a written request to HR for the allegations, the process, and your pay status. Use the template below. Email beats phone, you want a paper trail.
4. Open a private timeline document on a personal device. Write down the date and time of the suspension meeting, who was present, what was said, what was handed to you, and any earlier incidents you think led to this. Do this the same day, while your memory is fresh. Remember it is illegal to record people without their consent.
5. Get a copy of your employment contract and the company’s disciplinary or investigation policy. You’ll need both to understand what the employer can and can’t do.

Try This Now: The Email You Should Send HR Today

Copy, paste, edit the bracketed sections, and send from a personal email if you’ve been locked out of your work account:

Common Mistakes That Make Suspension Worse

The fastest ways to turn a survivable suspension into a dismissal:

• The panic text. Messaging a work friend to vent about the suspension or the person who raised the complaint. This will be screenshotted and produced in the investigation.
• Logging into work email or systems from a personal device. Many suspensions include an instruction not to access company systems. Breaching that is itself a disciplinary issue.
• Resigning in anger. A heat-of-the-moment resignation usually ends your right to claim unfair dismissal as that is only for employees who are dismissed. However, the Fair Work Commission has clarified when resignations during emotional moments it can be treated as a dismissal in some cases, but the safer course is simply not to send it as it would allow your employee to raise an objection to your application.
• Posting on LinkedIn or social media. “Looking for new opportunities” while still employed reads as either constructive resignation or an admission you’ve given up.
• Talking to clients or external contacts about the situation. Even sympathetic ones. Anything you say will find its way back.

What Are My Rights If I Am Suspended From Work?

Suspension feels powerless, but you have more rights than you think. The core ones in Australia are:

• The right to be paid. Unless your employment contract, modern award, or enterprise agreement specifically allows unpaid suspension, the default position is that suspension must be on full pay. The Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) does not give employers a general right to suspend you without pay. If your employer has cut your pay during suspension and no written term allows them to do so, that may be an unlawful deduction of wages under section 323 of the Act, or in serious cases a repudiation of your contract that opens the door to a constructive dismissal claim.
• The right to know the allegations. You’re entitled to know, in clear and specific terms, what you’re alleged to have done. “Concerns have been raised” is not enough.
• The right to a fair investigation. This means a reasonable opportunity to respond to the allegations, the chance to put your version of events, and access to the evidence being relied on against you. The Fair Work Commission treats failure to follow a fair process as a major factor when assessing whether a later dismissal was unfair.
• The right to a support person. You can bring a support person to any investigation meeting or disciplinary interview. They can take notes, ask for breaks, and support you emotionally. They are not your advocate, but they are your right.
• The right to be presumed innocent. A suspension is not a finding of guilt. It is a process step, not a verdict.
• The right not to be punished for raising a complaint. If your suspension is in response to you exercising a workplace right, for example, making a complaint about bullying, taking lawful leave, or raising a safety concern, that may be a breach of the general protections provisions in Part 3-1 of the Fair Work Act.

Two Things to Do This Week

• Read your employment contract carefully. Look for any clause headed “Suspension,” “Stand-down,” “Disciplinary procedures,” or “Investigation.” Note exactly what it says, and what it doesn’t.
• Request the company’s official disciplinary, grievance or investigation policy in writing from HR. Many employees have never seen this document, and it usually sets out the process the employer is meant to follow.

The Leading Case: What Avenia Tells You About Your Suspension Rights

If you want to know how Australian courts actually treat workplace suspensions, the case to know is Avenia v Railway & Transport Health Fund Ltd [2017] FCA 859. It is the leading Federal Court authority on the lawfulness of workplace suspensions, and its reasoning continues to be applied by the Fair Work Commission in current decisions.

The facts in short: Dr Arnaldo Avenia was a dentist whose practice was acquired by RTHF. After multiple staff complaints about his conduct, aggressive emails, belittling colleagues, name-calling, RTHF suspended him on full pay while it investigated. Dr Avenia argued his contract contained no express suspension clause and that the suspension was therefore unlawful. He lodged a general protections claim. He ultimately lost, and was dismissed for serious misconduct.

Three things from Justice Lee’s reasoning are directly useful if you’re sitting on a suspension right now:

1. Your employer does not need a suspension clause to suspend you on full pay. At common law, an employer has a right to temporarily suspend an employee on full pay for as long as is reasonably necessary to investigate. Even where your contract is silent, the suspension can be lawful, provided it’s on full pay and for a defined, justifiable purpose.

2. The right has real limits. A suspension must be reasonable in the circumstances. The factors that matter: the seriousness of the allegations, whether your presence creates a genuine risk to health, safety or investigation integrity, the impact on your right to work, and crucially, whether the suspension is genuinely temporary, not indefinite.

3. You can decline an investigation meeting if the allegations haven’t been properly put to you, once. Dr Avenia refused to attend the first investigation meeting because RTHF had not outlined the bullying allegations in writing. The court agreed that direction was unreasonable. But once the allegations had been explained, his continued refusal became unreasonable, and it formed part of the employer’s grounds to dismiss. The practical lesson: ask for the allegations in writing, decline the first meeting if needed to get them, then engage.

The case is also a cautionary tale about lodging a general protections claim too early. Dr Avenia’s claim turned on whether the employer had acted because he exercised a workplace right (his complaint about procedural fairness). The Federal Court found the employer was driven by genuine concerns about Dr Avenia’s conduct, not by his complaint, and the claim failed. Get the timing and the basis right, or the claim can backfire.

Will I Be Fired After Suspension? Signs You’re Being Pushed Out

Some suspensions genuinely are investigative pauses that end with you returning to work. Others are the first visible step of a process the employer has already decided the outcome of. Knowing which one you’re in changes everything about your next move.

Your Risk-of-Dismissal Audit

Tick each statement that applies to your situation:

• The suspension has lasted longer than four weeks with no substantive update.
• The allegations involve “serious misconduct”, theft, dishonesty, violence, harassment, or a serious safety breach.
• In the weeks before the suspension, you were excluded from meetings, taken off projects, or cut out of email threads you’d normally be on.
• Your employer has refused to put the allegations or process in writing, despite you asking.
• You’ve been told not to contact anyone at the company, including HR, except through one specific person.
• You were not given a clear chance to respond before being suspended.
• The person investigating reports directly to the person who made the complaint, or to someone with a personal interest in the outcome.
• You’ve been offered a “without prejudice” conversation, a deed of release, or an exit package.

How to read your score

• 0–2 ticks: Standard investigation territory. Comply, document, respond properly when the allegations are put to you, and let the process run.
• 3–5 ticks: Elevated risk. The process is starting to look pre-determined. Get legal advice before you respond to any allegations in writing.
• 6+ ticks: Treat this as a serious risk of dismissal. The decision is likely already being made and you should be preparing both your defence and, if appropriate, an exit strategy.

If you’re in the elevated or serious-risk band, the next section is the one that matters most.

Should You Resign If You’re Suspended? Resigning vs Waiting It Out

In almost every case, don’t resign. Resigning before the investigation concludes typically ends your right to bring an unfair dismissal claim (which must be lodged within 21 days of dismissal taking effect under section 394 of the Fair Work Act), cuts off your income immediately, and hands the employer the cleanest possible outcome. There are narrow exceptions, but they are exceptions.

Resigning vs Waiting for the Outcome: Side-by-Side

A Simple Decision Flow

Work through these in order:

1. Are the allegations true, and do they meet the legal threshold for serious misconduct (theft, violence, serious dishonesty, serious safety breach)?

• No → Don’t resign. Wait for the investigation, prepare your written response, and protect your unfair dismissal rights.
• Yes → Go to question 2.

2. Is a clean separation record critical for your industry, for example, are you a licensed professional, financial services worker, in childcare, or working under a regulator that requires you to disclose findings of misconduct?

• No → Still consider waiting it out. A finding may not stick, and a negotiated exit is usually only available with leverage.
• Yes → Consider asking your employer for a “without prejudice” conversation about a negotiated exit on agreed terms (sometimes called a deed of release or settlement agreement). Get legal advice before you sign anything.

3. Has the employer already offered you an exit package or “without prejudice” deal?

That tells you something. Employers don’t pay people to leave when they’re confident the misconduct case will hold up. The offer is a sign you have leverage, don’t accept the first number, and have a lawyer review the deed before signing. Our team handles settlement negotiation regularly and can usually improve the position substantially.

When Resigning Might Be the Right Call

• You’re a senior executive negotiating a confidential settlement and the dollar amount on the table beats your likely unfair dismissal outcome.
• You’re licensed in an industry where a recorded finding of misconduct will end your career, and a mutually agreed resignation is being offered.
• The workplace has become genuinely unsafe, psychologically or physically, and the employer’s conduct itself amounts to constructive dismissal (which preserves your right to make a claim despite resigning).
• When the allegations against you are in fact correct and you are guilty of the misconduct.

When Resigning Is Almost Always Wrong

• You haven’t been told what you’re accused of yet.
• You haven’t had legal advice.
• You feel angry, embarrassed or panicked and just want it to be over.
• You believe you’re innocent and the investigation hasn’t begun.

If you’re in the last group — wrongfully accused, want to fight, need the income — stay.

How Long Can You Be Suspended From Work in Australia?

There is no statutory time limit on suspension in Australia. But that doesn’t mean an employer can keep you on indefinite suspension. The common-law principle is that suspension must be no longer than reasonably necessary to conduct a fair investigation. A drawn-out suspension without progress, updates or justification can itself amount to a repudiation of the contract, opening up a constructive dismissal claim.

Realistic Timeline Expectations

If you’ve passed the four-week mark without updates, the investigation has stalled — and so has the employer’s defence to any claim you might bring later.

What to Do When the Suspension Drags On

Send a formal written request for an update. A simple template:

If the employer ignores you, or replies vaguely, that response itself becomes evidence in any later claim, particularly a constructive dismissal or general protections claim. Save everything.

When to Call an Employment Lawyer

Most people wait too long. The strongest position you can be in is one where a specialist employment lawyer reviews your contract, the allegations, and your draft response before you commit anything in writing to the employer. Once you’ve put something on the record, it becomes harder to unwind.

Call us early if any of the following apply:

• The allegations involve serious misconduct.
• You’ve been suspended without pay.
• The suspension has gone beyond four weeks without resolution.
• You’ve been offered a “without prejudice” deal, a deed of release, or a settlement offer.
• You suspect the suspension is retaliation for raising a complaint, taking leave, or asserting a workplace right.
• You’re being asked to attend a formal investigation interview and don’t know what to say.
• If you need a support person.
• You’re considering resigning.

At Fair Workplace Solutions, we specialise exclusively in employment law. We act for employees Australia-wide for unfair dismissal and general protections claims, and on fixed fees for advice and contract review.

This article provides general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Every employment matter turns on its specific facts and applicable law, including your contract, any applicable modern award or enterprise agreement, and the particular circumstances of the suspension. For advice on your situation, contact Fair Workplace Solutions on 1800 565 975.