Termination of employment, Jacob Lind
Termination letter template that shows the final pay
A termination letter is read twice, once by the employee in the meeting and once by a lawyer or a tribunal months later, and both need the same facts. This one states the reason and the process in dates, shows the final pay as a table with each component, and says what happens next, so there is nothing to ask afterwards.
The document, page by page
Every page as it renders and as it prints, with nothing summarised. Read the wording before you reuse it.
Section by section
What each section is for, so you can keep the ones you need and drop the rest.
- Letterhead and addressee
- Fern and Kettle Cafe underline letterhead, 18 November 2026, private and confidential, to Jacob Lind.
- Subject
- Termination of your employment, in one line.
- 1. Decision
- Employment ends 18 November 2026, for continued failure to meet the attendance standard after two warnings.
- 2. Process
- Five dated steps as a table, with the employee's response at the final meeting.
- 3. Notice
- Three weeks under the contract and the NES, paid in lieu.
- 4. Final pay
- Component, basis and amount for each line, totalling $4,961.90 gross, paid within 7 days.
- 5. Property and access
- Keys and uniform back by 20 November, app access ends today.
- 6. Certificate of service
- Attached, and available on request in future.
- 7. Where to get advice
- A callout: the Fair Work Ombudsman on 13 13 94, and the 21 day unfair dismissal period.
- Sign off and receipt
- The owner's sign off, then a receipt block with a declined to sign line.
Clauses in this document
Notice, payment in lieu and final pay: how the numbers are worked out
Start with the notice period: the NES table by years of service, or the contract if it promises more. Jacob's three weeks is paid in lieu, costed at three weeks of his ordinary 30 hours. Then final wages since the last pay run, 32 hours here. Then annual leave: the untaken balance is paid at the base rate, 46.2 hours in this letter, with leave loading added only where the award or agreement says it survives termination. Sick leave is never paid out. Superannuation applies to the wages and the in lieu payment. Total it, state it as gross, and pay it with a payslip within the period your award sets, this letter commits to 7 days.
How to adapt this document
For a redundancy, the reason section states that the position is no longer required, the process table becomes the consultation dates, and the final pay table gains a redundancy pay row from the NES scale. For a termination during probation, cite the minimum employment period, keep the notice and final pay sections, and drop the warnings from the process table. For summary dismissal for serious misconduct there is no notice row at all, and the reason must be stated specifically, since everything then turns on it. In every version the skeleton holds: decision, process, money, property, advice, receipt.
What makes this document work
The process is a table of five dated steps
Section 2 lists the 11 September meeting, the 14 September first warning, the 20 October final warning, the 16 November meeting with a support person and the 18 November decision. That timeline is the first thing a tribunal asks for, with the employee's response at the last meeting recorded in a sentence.
Every final pay component shows its basis
The table does not just say $4,961.90. It says 32 hours at $29.50 is $944.00, three weeks at 30 hours is $2,655.00, and 46.2 hours of annual leave is $1,362.90, with leave loading marked not applicable. The employee can check each line against the payslip, which stops the follow up dispute.
The 21 day period is stated, neutrally
The advice callout names the Fair Work Ombudsman and says an unfair dismissal application must be lodged within 21 days. Telling a dismissed employee their avenue of review reads as fair, and in practice it protects the employer too: a letter showing a fair process is the best answer to the application it mentions.
Questions people ask
How much notice does an employer have to give?
The National Employment Standards minimum runs by continuous service: one week up to a year, two over one year, three over three years, four over five years, plus one more for an employee over 45 with at least two years of service. The contract applies if it gives more, which is why this letter cites both.
What is payment in lieu of notice?
Paying out the notice period instead of having the employee work it, at the rate they would have earned. The letter should say which applies: this one states three weeks paid in lieu, shown in the final pay table as $2,655.00, and employment ends on the day the letter is handed over.
What gets paid out on termination?
Wages to the last day, notice or payment in lieu, accrued untaken annual leave, and leave loading where the award provides it, this letter marks it not applicable for the role. Unused sick and carer's leave is not paid out. Long service leave is paid where state rules make the employee eligible.
Does a termination letter have to give a reason?
For a dismissal to be defensible as fair, yes: a valid reason, told to the employee, with a chance to respond. Section 1 of this letter states the reason and section 2 shows the process that gave Jacob that chance, two warnings and two meetings across two months.
Should the letter be handed over in the meeting?
Yes. Explain the decision in person, hand the letter over so the employee leaves with the facts in writing, and email a copy afterwards. The receipt block, with its handed in person and declined to sign line, exists for exactly that moment.
What is a certificate of service?
A short signed statement of the dates worked and the role held, with nothing evaluative, section 6 attaches one. The fuller version, with duties, examples and an opinion, is a reference letter, and the reference letter example shows what that looks like.
Build your own in about a minute
The button below opens the generator with this use case already described. Change the wording to match your own, generate, then edit anything you like.
Make my termination letter template that shows the final payOther document examples
Job offer letter
An offer of $98,000 plus $11,760 of superannuation, with the three checks it depends on and a clear instruction not to resign until they clear. The letter also names what is not in the offer, which is the part candidates most often assume.
Remote work policy template with the days, the money and the checklist
Hybrid policies fail on the three questions nobody wants to answer: how many days, who pays for the chair, and what happens if it is not working. This policy answers all three with numbers, adds the workspace checklist the safety duty requires, and keeps the security rules to the six that matter.
Job description template with a measure against every responsibility
A job description that lists duties without measures is an advertisement; one that says how each duty is measured is the document the review will use a year later. This one gives six responsibilities, each with its measure, splits essential from desirable criteria, and puts the conditions in a block so the ad can be cut from page one.
Want the steps in the builder? Read Create a document with AI, then Document builder components. For everything this generator can do, see the document maker.
Written and checked by the OneCraft team. Last checked .