Types of applications lodged with the Fair Work Commission

Median time between lodgement and conciliation for unfair dismissal applications

= 27 days

Median time taken for agreement approval without undertakings

= 32 days

Total number of applications lodged with the Commission = 31,554

↓ 5%

General protections claims involving dismissal = 4,117

↑ 388 claims

Unfair dismissal applications = 13,595
[This decrease suggests that employees prefer general protections claims due to the availability of uncapped damages]

↓ 540 claims

Appeals continued to decline to 190, compared to 336 applications in 2014-2015

↓ 146 claims

Applications to vary and terminate enterprise agreements and transitional individual agreements = 1,789

↑ 609

Hearings and conferences

↓ 29%

Use of telephone or videoconferencing in hearings and conferences

↑ 5%

Percentage of matters decided by a Member on the papers, without a hearing or conference, which mainly involved applications for approval of enterprise agreements

21%

Regarding unfair dismissal applications, 50% were completed within 31 days and 90% of applications were finalised within 90 days. Also, 6% of applications were determined by the Commission either through a final decision or order and out of the 779 matters determined in this way, 20% of the dismissals were harsh, unjust or unreasonable, compared to 18% in 2016-2017.

In relation to unfair dismissals, 268 matters involved jurisdictional objections being raised by the employer, with 73% being upheld in the employer’s favour, due to grounds including timeliness of the application made by the employee, the length of the employee’s employment and whether there was a dismissal of the employee. A common reason for not upholding the jurisdictional objection was due to the Commission granting an extension of time to the employee to submit the application.

The median amount of compensation in relation to an unfair dismissal = $6,971

= approx. 4.3 weeks’ pay

Applications regarding industrial action under s.418 for an order, such as to stop industrial action = 54

 ↑ 9%