FWA Statistics on General Protections & Unfair Dismissals Claims
FWA has received more than 550 General Protection applications every quarter this financial year, and Unfair Dismissal claims continue to rise, new Fair Work Australia (FWA) data reveals. FWA received 566 General Protections applications in the March quarter, which is in line with the figures for the previous 6 months. The bulk of these applications were finalised, and FWA issued 134 unsuccessful resolution certificates. With Unfair Dismissals, FWA received 3219 applications in the quarter, higher than average. The vast majority of the Unfair Dismissal claims were settled at, or before, conciliation. At conciliation, FWA continued to deal with the overwhelming majority of the claims before it by telephone, with only 76 conducted in person and one by video conference. The overall settlement rate at conciliation remained high, at 79%. The tribunal arbitrated 64 dismissal claims in the quarter, finding 24 were unfair and 40 fair. It made just 5 reinstatement and 18 compensation orders.
Small Business & FWA
While 609 Unfair Dismissal applications related to a small business employee, importantly, only 2 were rejected because the dismissal was consistent with the Small Business Fair Dismissal Code.