What is the Fair Work Ombudsman’s process for dealing with employee complaints?
Today, the typical approach taken by the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) upon receiving an employee complaint is as follows:
Step 1
The FWO encourages the complainant to raise the relevant issues of concern with the employer.
Step 2
If the matter is not resolved, the FWO assesses:
- whether the complaint is a ‘routine’ matter or a ‘complex’ matter;
- whether the employee falls within a vulnerable category, e.g. youth, casuals; and
- the compliance history of the employer.
If the matter is deemed to be serious and/or ‘complex’, voluntary resolution mechanisms (see Step 3) are bypassed in favour of a more formal investigation process (see Step 5).
Step 3
In less serious cases, the FWO invites the complainant to participate in an ‘assisted voluntary resolution’ process administered by a Fair Work Inspector.
The inspector contacts the employer and the employee separately by telephone in order to work through the issues and discuss potential solutions.
Step 4
If the matter is still unresolved, the complaint is subject to telephone mediation by an accredited FWO mediator. The mediation is informal, voluntary and confidential.
Step 5
If the matter is unresolved by mediation, inspectors conduct a condensed investigation process to determine who, if anyone, has failed to comply with Commonwealth workplace laws.
If somebody has failed to comply, the FWO will also determine what is needed to fix the problem.
Step 6
To enforce compliance with Commonwealth workplace laws, the FWO may issue:
- infringement notices (i.e. fines);
- compliance notices (i.e. formal directions to take certain remedial steps and are enforceable in court);
- enforceable undertakings (i.e. a formalised commitment to comply); or
- court-ordered penalties (in cases where an employer chooses not to fix a contravention of a workplace law).
This is an extract of the Article ‘The changing face of the FWO: What you need to know’ posted by Charles Power on August 6th, 2014. For the full article visit http://www.employmentlawhandbook.com.au/the-changing-face-of-the-fwo-what-you-need-to-know/
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
If you need assistance managing a workplace grievance or complaint feel free to give us a call for an obligation free chat, call Human Resource Services on: (07) 5530 1571.
