The Unfair Dismissal Process, Step by Step

Day zero: the dismissal takes effect

Your 21 calendar days start when the dismissal takes effect, which is usually your last day of employment, and weekends and public holidays are counted in. Before anything else, confirm you are eligible: at least six months of service (twelve if the employer has fewer than 15 staff), and earnings under $190,100 unless a modern award or enterprise agreement covers you. If you fall outside those lines, stop reading this guide and go to wrongful termination instead, because general protections claims share the same 21-day clock without the same eligibility limits.

While the clock runs, gather your contract, termination letter, payslips, performance history and any emails or messages about the dismissal. Do not sign a deed of release. A signed deed generally ends the claim before it starts.

Step one: the Form F2

The claim begins with a Form F2 lodged online with the Fair Work Commission, plus an application fee of about $90, waivable for hardship. The form looks like an administrative box-ticking exercise, and it very much is not. The account you give of why the dismissal was harsh, unjust or unreasonable becomes the spine of your case, and a vague or angry F2 hands the employer’s lawyers their first advantage. Small business dismissals bring an extra layer: the employer will argue it followed the Small Business Fair Dismissal Code, and your F2 should already anticipate that.

This is the single step where getting advice changes the most. We draft F2s for clients every week, and the free first call on 1800 130 120 will tell you whether your facts are worth lodging at all.

Step two: the employer responds

The Commission serves your claim and the employer files a Form F3 response, typically drafted by its lawyer or HR consultant. Expect the dismissal to sound far more procedurally tidy in the F3 than it felt in the room. That document tells us which way the employer will run: valid-reason arguments, process arguments, or a jurisdictional objection saying you were never eligible. Jurisdictional objections get decided first and end weak claims early, which is another reason the eligibility questions in this guide matter. Miss the eligibility test here and employment law usually still leaves you a door, which is why an objection is worth a phone call before you treat the matter as finished.

Step three: conciliation, where almost everything settles

Within a few weeks you will be listed for conciliation, a confidential phone conference before an independent conciliator. Each side states its position, then the conciliator moves between private sessions carrying offers back and forth. Most unfair dismissal claims end here, with a settlement that can include money, an agreed reference and confidentiality.

The settlement figure at conciliation comes from the facts as argued, weighed against how much risk each side feels it is carrying. An employee who turns up with a worked-up loss schedule and a lawyer who has run hundreds of these conferences reads as risk to an employer. An unrepresented applicant reading from handwritten notes usually reads as an inconvenience.

Step four: if it does not settle

Unresolved matters proceed to a hearing before a Commission member, with witness statements, cross-examination and a binding decision. Remedies are reinstatement or capped compensation, up to the lesser of six months of pay or $95,050. Only a small fraction of claims travel this far, and unfair dismissal is a no-costs jurisdiction, so even a loss does not usually mean paying the employer’s lawyers.

What this means for you

This is a process that rewards speed and preparation at the front end far more than heroics at the hearing. If your dismissal happened this month, the most useful hour you can spend is a free call with a lawyer who runs these files, working out whether you are eligible, what the claim is worth, and what taking it to conciliation would involve. That is what our unfair dismissal lawyers do all day, on 1800 130 120, evenings and weekends included.