Unfair Dismissal Continues in Victoria

Post COVID-19 Lockdown, we see the number of unfair dismissal claims increase.

The FWC’s annual report revealed a 40% sudden increase in the number of unfair dismissal applications it dealt with during the height of the pandemic between March and June last year.

A similar pattern to the fallout from the global financial crisis, and the panic from the mild recession of that period caused some employers to feel justified in the increased number of terminations. Either way, this has caused a rise in the number of employees who believe they were unfairly let go.

The Fair Work Commission saw an 8% rise in the total number of applications, but the majority comprised unfair dismissal and general protection suits.

Unfair dismissal and General protection suits are discussed in more detail here.

Recent transcripts of cases are located on the Fair Work Commission’s Website.

The general protections benchbook is for people who need to prepare or respond to an application under the general protections. It has examples of previous cases and decisions to help you understand how the Fair Work Act 2009 may apply.

This is an online resource, but you can download the General protections benchbook (pdf).

The Unfair dismissals benchbook is for people who need to prepare or respond to an unfair dismissal application. It has examples of previous cases and decisions to help you understand how the Fair Work Act 2009 may apply.

This is an online resource, but you can download the Unfair dismissal benchbook (pdf)