Unfair Dismissal

Under the Fair Work Act, employees who have been terminated from their employment may be eligible to apply for what is called an unfair dismissal remedy.

This is an informal process whereby the employee can make an application to the Fair Work Commission to have their termination conciliated between the former employer and themselves. The conciliation is conducted by telephone which means the employee does not have to meet their former employer face to face.

Understandably, this may be confronting for some so the informal telephone conciliation is a more acceptable method. Most Unfair Dismissal conciliations resolve at the telephone conciliation and the details of any settlement reached, remain confidential between the parties.

One of the greatest advantages of a conciliation is both parties have control of the outcome and nothing goes on the public record.

At Close Consulting, we have extensive experience in the unfair dismissal process.

In engaging our services, we will prepare and submit everything from the get-go. All we need you to do is provide us with some documentation which we will advise you of, then the rest is left to us.

We will seek instructions from you as needed and you will not need to focus on anything besides a positive outcome from the telephone conciliation. We will attend to the employer’s response to your application and we attend the conciliation and represent you throughout the entire process. During this process we will also work with the employer to reach a settlement which often results in the termination being reversed to a resignation, a statement of service and a deed of settlement.

In many cases we are also able to reach a small financial compensation which is called an ex gratia payment. Under the Fair Work Act, the most compensation that can be awarded in an unfair dismissal is 26 weeks of salary. If financial settlement is reached as part of a settlement, it is always based on your full rate of pay before tax.

In engaging our services, we will prepare and submit everything from the get-go. All we need you to do is provide us with some documentation which we will advise you of, then the rest is left to us.

We will seek instructions from you as needed and you will not need to focus on anything besides a positive outcome from the telephone conciliation. We will attend to the employer’s response to your application and we attend the conciliation and represent you throughout the entire process.

During this process, we will also work with the employer to reach a settlement which often results in the termination being reversed to a resignation, a statement of service and a deed of settlement. In many cases, we are also able to reach a small financial compensation which is called an ex gratia payment.

Under the Fair Work Act, the most compensation that can be awarded in an unfair dismissal is 26 weeks of salary. If a financial settlement is reached as part of a settlement, it is always based on your full rate of pay before tax.

Should we reach an amicable settlement at the telephone conciliation, once the parties have signed the deeds of settlement and any financial compensation that has been agreed to has been paid to our client, the matter quite simply goes away.

There are very strict conditions placed on any terms of agreement reached and both parties are obliged to comply with those terms. One of the most important but certainly not the least is the issue of confidentiality.

Any settlements reached at a telephone conciliation are confidential and must remain confidential between the parties. We will discuss that with you in much greater detail at the appropriate time.