Employment Law Dispute Resolution

The assignment discusses a scenario where an employee, Mary, was terminated by her employer due to her political opinion. The Fair Work Act 2009 provides general protections for employees against unfair dismissal and discrimination. The assignment explains the possible remedies available to Mary, including filing a complaint with the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) or making an application to the Fair Work Commission (FWC). It also outlines the process for resolving a dispute related to general protection laws, including private conferences, arbitration, and court proceedings.

Running Head: Law 1
Law

Law 2
To,
Supervising solicitor
Subject: breach of employment law
This letter address different issues related to the employment law, and all these issues are
addressed below:
1. It is possible to dismiss the person from their employment in following situations:
 when employment of the person is terminated by the employer, or
 When employee resigned from the employment but this resignation was forced by
something the employer did.
Employment law introduced different general protections for the purpose of:
 Protecting the workplace rights of the employees.
 Protect freedom of association.
 It provides protection to the employee against the workplace discrimination.
 It also provides effective relief for those persons who have been discriminated in the
organization or experienced unfair treatment1.
In other words, it is not possible for employer to take any adverse action against the
employee because of an attribute of that person, which includes race, color, sex, age,
marital status, political opinion, etc. In the present case, employer dismisses the Mary
because of her political opinion. Therefore, employer breaches the general protection
laws of the employment law.
2. Following are some remedies which can be seek by the mark against her former
employer:
If dispute related to general protection laws are resolved through the Commission
conference, then parties to the dispute should sign a settlement document which result in
formal agreement. It is possible to customize the settlement for the purpose of reflecting
the parties’ agreement. It also includes details of compensation or steps to be taken, as
well as issues related to the privacy or non-disparagement terms.
In case person seeks court remedies for breaching the general protection laws of the Fair
Work Act 2009, then the Courts have power to:
 Issue a penalty in monetary form.
 Court can make order for reinstate.
1 Fair work commission, General protections dismissal, <
https://www.fwc.gov.au/termination-employment/general-protections-dismissal#field-content-3-heading>,
accessed on 16th March 2018.

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 Court can make an order awarding compensation for loss.
 Court can grant injunction or interim injunction.
 Court can award costs, but in limited situations only.
Commission member has power to make an order while giving their decision at the
conclusion of an arbitration, and following are the orders which can be made by the
member:
 Member can make order for restoration of the person.
 Member can make order for paying compensation to the person
 Member can make order for paying an amount to the person for loss of remuneration.
It is necessary for both the parties to comply with the order made by the commission
related to the dispute. If order is breached by the person, then court has power to enforce
this order and this also result in application of penalties2.
3. Chances of Mary success in this case are high because employer has no fair reason to
terminate the Mary, and he terminates the Mary because of her political opinion about the
Country’s leader. This issue falls under the category of general protection laws, and Mary
has right to take action against her employer.
To,
Mary
Subject: General Protection suit
This letter address different issues related to the employment law, and all these issues are
addressed below:
4. General protection laws are considered as additional laws related to the rights of the
employees in the organization provided by the Act in context of unfair dismissal and
unlawful termination based on the discrimination grounds and temporary absence from
work. General protection laws protected the employees against any discriminatory
behavior of the employer and other employees.
In the present case, Mary’s former employer dismisses her because of the political
opinion she hold against the country’s leader. In this case, Mary can take cause of Action
against her former employer on the ground that adverse action was taken by her employer
against Mary on the ground of her political opinion.
This issue is fall under the category of general protections laws, and Mary has right to
take action against her former employer3.
2 Fair work Commission, Remedies, < https://www.fwc.gov.au/termination-employment/general-protections-
unlawful-terminations/remedies>, accessed on 16th march 2018.

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5. There are number of options which can be pursued by the person if they believe that they
are subject to a general protections contravention. In other words, if any person believes
that they are subject to general protection laws than they can file compliant with the Fair
Work Ombudsman (FWO). There are two ways through which complaint can be lodge:
 Person can lodge complaint by post
 Person can lodge complaint in person and this can be done at any of the FWO's
offices around Australia.
Allegations in this context are investigated by the FWO, and if identified then FWO can
order legal action for penalties of up to $12,600 for an individual or $63,000 for a
corporation. In case person believes that they have dismissed and alleges that their
dismissal was in contravention of the general protections provisions, then person has right
to make application to the FWC to deal with the dismissal in the first instance. Dismissal
application related to the general protections must be lodged within 21 days of the date of
dismissal4.
6. Following is the process to resolve the dispute related to the general protection law:
 If dispute related to the general protection laws involve dismissal, then
commission has power to initiate private conference for the purpose of dealing
with the dismissal. Conferences related to general protections matters are private
in nature.
In dispute is not resolved during the conference, and commission believe that all
reasonable attempts to resolve the dispute have been made, then certificate in this
regard is issued by the commission.
 Parties can ask the commission to resolve the matter with the help of arbitration,
but it is not possible to resolve the matter with arbitration if both parties do not
give their consent.
 In case parties does not provide consent related to the arbitration, then applicant
has right to resolve the matter by making application to the Federal Circuit Court
or the Federal Court5.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Website
3 Hickson Lawyers, (2011), Australia: Adverse Action: recent cases raise issues for employers regarding the General
Protection provisions of the Fair Work Act, <
http://www.mondaq.com/australia/x/146432/Employee+Rights/Adverse+Action+recent+cases+raise+issues+for+e
mployers+regarding+the+General+Protection+provisions+of+the+Fair+Work+Act>, accessed on 16th march 2018.
4 FWO, Protections at work, < https://www.fairwork.gov.au/how-we-will-help/templates-and-guides/fact-sheets/
rights-and-obligations/protections-at-work#How-can-I-seek-help-for-a-general-protections-contravention>,
accessed on 16th march 2018.
5 FWC, What is the process for general protections dismissal applications?, < https://www.fwc.gov.au/termination-
employment/general-protections-unlawful-terminations/what-the-process-general>, accessed on 16th March 2018.

Law 5
Fair work commission, General protections dismissal, < https://www.fwc.gov.au/termination-
employment/general-protections-dismissal#field-content-3-heading>, accessed on 16th March
2018.
Fair work Commission, Remedies, < https://www.fwc.gov.au/termination-employment/general-
protections-unlawful-terminations/remedies>, accessed on 16th march 2018.
Hickson Lawyers, (2011), Australia: Adverse Action: recent cases raise issues for employers
regarding the General Protection provisions of the Fair Work Act, <
http://www.mondaq.com/australia/x/146432/Employee+Rights/Adverse+Action+recent+cases+r
aise+issues+for+employers+regarding+the+General+Protection+provisions+of+the+Fair+Work
+Act>, accessed on 16th march 2018.
FWO, Protections at work, < https://www.fairwork.gov.au/how-we-will-help/templates-and-
guides/fact-sheets/rights-and-obligations/protections-at-work#How-can-I-seek-help-for-a-
general-protections-contravention>, accessed on 16th march 2018.
FWC, What is the process for general protections dismissal applications?, <
https://www.fwc.gov.au/termination-employment/general-protections-unlawful-terminations/
what-the-process-general>, accessed on 16th March 2018.
Statute
Fair work act 2009