If tomorrow when you arrived at work your boss suddenly and unfairly sacked you, how strong do you think your legal protections would be?
Do you think they would be strong enough that you could reverse the sacking and win your job back? To answer that question, we really need to look at the latest data published in the Fair Work Commission’s recent annual report.
It reveals that of the 13,945 unfair dismissal applications finalised in 2012-2013, just 20 orders of reinstatement were made while 132 others settled for reinstatement at conciliation.
This means in all of Australia, only 152 people out of 13,945 people were able to win their job back through the Fair Work Commission after being unfairly sacked. So to answer our question, this data tells us if you believe you have been unfairly sacked, you stand just a 1.09 per cent chance of winning your job back under our current industrial relations system.
Almost impossible to get your job back
Even after the abolition of WorkChoices these figures show us that the truth remains no matter how unfairly your employment is terminated, it is nearly impossible to get your job back – regardless of the circumstances of your termination; regardless of your length of service; and regardless of any appeal process.
One of the main reasons so few working Australians are able to win their job back is because too many people are forced to settle unfair dismissal applications at or before conciliation for small amounts of compensation.
It is within the statistics that the hardship stories of those who attempted to get their jobs back are told. People like National Union of Workers’ member, Pakpao, a Thai migrant with limited skills in English who worked daily as a casual employee at a processing plant for four years.
She was in her late-40s with two adult children who still live with her and earned just above the minimum wage. She was loyal to her employer. She always did what was asked of her. She worked with care, quickly, courteously and without complaint. For four years she was by all accounts the ideal employee.
Pakpao thought she had a job she could count on. It was hard work – as a casual she had no personal leave or annual leave – but she counted on her job not only for financial security but also because she understood the insecurity that went with her race, her difficulties with the English language and being the only female in that area of the factory.
It was when a new supervisor was employed who bullied her to tears that she complained to management. After a quick company investigation, Pakpao was sacked for ‘causing trouble and not meeting her productivity targets’.
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