Legal avenues
You or your employee can seek legal advice from a legal representative at any time. They may be able to assist you with a range of actions, including providing advice about your rights and responsibilities to your employees.
To find a solicitor, visit the law institute or law society within your state or territory. To find a community legal centre go to the Australian Community Legal Centres website.
Your employee might choose to take legal action. The small claims process under the Fair Work Act can be used to recover employee entitlements or other debts up to $100,000. In some cases, the court may allow the successful applicant to recover any court filing fees paid from the respondent. The small claims process is quicker, cheaper and more informal than regular court proceedings. The aim is to settle disputes quickly and fairly, with minimum expense to the parties. For information about small claims, go to Legal action in the small claims court.
Mediation
If you haven’t been able to resolve the workplace issue with your employee, an accredited mediator might be able to assist you. Generally, mediation is a voluntary process, so both you and your employee must agree to mediation. Dispute resolution procedures in an enterprise agreement or contract may require the parties to mediate.
Mediators don’t take sides, give advice or decide who’s right or wrong. They help you work through the issues and reach a solution that everyone can accept.
Some community organisations and private dispute resolution providers offer free or low-cost mediation services. For some matters, the Commission may be able to assist through an informal mediation process. You can find more information about mediation at the Commission.
Conciliation
Conciliation is very common in workplace disputes and is undertaken in most unfair dismissal cases in the Commission. Conciliation is a voluntary process to help an employer and employee resolve an unfair dismissal dispute. The process allows each party to negotiate in an informal setting to identify if there is a solution to the issue.
Conciliation is very similar to mediation except that the conciliator:
- will likely have some specialist workplace relations knowledge
- may give expert advice or information.
You can find out more about the conciliation process through the Commission.
Arbitration
Arbitration is a less common way of resolving workplace disputes.
What makes arbitration different from other types of dispute resolution is that the parties agree that an independent and impartial person (the arbitrator) will listen to each side and then make a decision that’s binding on everyone.
Source
Effective dispute resolution – https://www.fairwork.gov.au/tools-and-resources/best-practice-guides/effective-dispute-resolution
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