Dear FRIEND,
'Discharge' and 'Dismissal' are the two terms with literally the same meaning i.e the act of the employer sending the employee out of his job or unilaterally terminating the contract of employment.But, in the context of industrial jurisprudence, the term ' dismissal ' carries with it the stigma of proven misconduct as the causative factor for such termination of employment.Dismissal, therefore, can deprive the workman of his terminal benefits and at times will act as a bar on his further employment under the same employer or elsewhere. On the otherhand, discharge refers to the simple termination not involving any act of misconduct attributable to the workman and therefore no stigma is attached with it affecting his terminal benefits or re-employment. 'Simple termination' or 'discharge' can also be further classified into discharge simpliciter, discharge of the services of workman as a result of non-renewal of the contract of employment on its expiry, discharge for loss of confidence, discharge on resignation, discharge for abandonment of service and discharge on the ground of continued ill-health.My reply is intended to bring out the difference between the terms discharge and dismissal in general.