Fair Work Commission – Annual Report 2015-2016

The Fair Work Commission has recently released its Annual Report for 2015-2016. At 243 pages you’ll need some strongass coffee to get through the hardcopy version but there’s some particularly interesting statistics for employers around Unfair Dismissal and major application types.

In 2015–16 the Commission:

• processed 14,694 unfair dismissal applications
• conducted 10,850 unfair dismissal conciliations
• received 131,099 visits to the online eligibility quiz
• received 34,738 website visits to the Unfair Dismissal Benchbook

While nothing prevents an ex-employee lodging an application through the Commission’s Online Lodgement Service, certain processes an employer has in place can minimise the chances of such an application being successful. An awareness of what constitutes unfair dismissal, understanding the different rules for dismissal (depending on business size) and maintaining accurate records of employee performance is the first step in managing your risk.

FWC’s Annual Report is available at:

https://www.fwc.gov.au/about-us/reports-publications/annual-reports