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It's becoming increasingly difficult for employers to defend general protections claims, according to a lawyer calling on HR to apply more rigour in all termination processes.

Not only do employers need to meet the strict onus of proving they didn't engage in unlawful adverse action, they're almost guaranteed to lose if they fail to identify all the people in the decision-making chain, says Dentons partner Paul O'Halloran.

When employers lose these cases it's often because they haven't called "material witnesses" who contributed to decisions in some way, he tells HR Daily.

"They haven't properly recognised the scope of decision-makers they should be calling to give evidence..."