Preparing for conciliation - Worksheet

You can print this worksheet and fill it out to help you prepare for your conciliation (or mediation) at the Fair Work Commission (the Commission).

Once you have filled it out, you can keep this worksheet with you during the conciliation and use it to help you remember important information.

Don't give the worksheet to the employer or the Commission! These notes are just for you.

2. Read the employer's response

Use this space to write down notes about the employer's response to your application, including anything you believe is wrong or misleading.

3. Understand how the law applies to your case

Read about general protections

You should make sure you understand national laws about general protections and how they apply to you.

Read the materials on this website on Can you apply? and What are general protections? Use this space to write down notes about which general protection(s) in the Fair Work Act applies to your case and how your employer has breached the law.

Find out if you are owed any money

You should also find out whether you are owed any other money by your employer, such as:

• payments in lieu of notice
• underpaid wages
• leave payments or leave loading
• long service leave or other statutory entitlements
• redundancy payments (if your position was made redundant but you have made a general protections application because you think your employer breached laws about general protections by choosing you for redundancy).

To work out what you should have been paid and what you are owed, see Finding employment law.

Use this space to write down notes about any other payments the employer owes you. It is possible to ask for these amounts to be included in any settlement agreement.

Get advice on Centrelink and other payments

Do you get:

Get advice on what will happen to these payments if your employer agrees to pay you compensation to settle the case.

Get legal advice and arrange representation

Even if you are representing yourself, it is a good idea to get legal advice before you go to conciliation.

You can talk to a solicitor about:

• the strength of your case
• what you might get if you went to hearing
• whether you are owed any other amounts of money.

If you want a lawyer to represent you at the conciliation, you should arrange this now.

If you decide you want a lawyer to represent you after you have made your application, you will need to send a Notice of Representative Commencing to Act (Form F53) to the Commission. You can get this form from the Fair Work Commission website.

4. Think about what you want to end the dispute

Think about what you want to ask for at the conciliation.

Do you want:

Use this space to write down some notes about how reinstatement or redeployment could work.

• Do you think you should return to the same position or a new position?
• Do you want to be moved to another area or location at work?
• Do you want to work different hours?
• Do you want to be treated as if your employment had not stopped (so you will have continued to accrue leave and other entitlements)?
• Is this realistic in your situation?

Compensation (for lost wages and/or pain and suffering)?

Use this space to write down notes on the amount you are asking for.

• Compensation is usually described as a certain number of weeks wages.
• In general protections cases it is also possible to claim compensation for pain and suffering caused by the way your employer treated you when you used (or tried to use) your rights.
• Think about whether you would accept a lower amount to settle the case now rather than going to a hearing.

Reference or statement of service

Use this space to write down notes on what you would like to be written in a reference or a statement of service.

​At conciliation you can ask for these amounts to be paid to you. This could be part of a settlement agreement.

For help finding out if you are owed any money, see Finding employment law. If you need more help, you should get legal advice.

Use this space to write down any other amounts of money you want to ask for. For example:

• payments in lieu of notice
• underpaid wages
• leave payments or leave loading
• long service leave or other statutory entitlements.

Use this space to write down notes on anything else you want to ask for. For example:

• an agreement that you and the employer will not say bad things about each other
• an agreement that you will resign instead of being dismissed.

5. Ask for an interpreter if you need one

If you did not request an interpreter in your application, tell the Commission if you want an interpreter. The Commission will arrange one for you.

6. Organise your documents

Prepare a list of the documents you want to have available during the conciliation. It is helpful to have the documents in order, for example, from earliest date to most recent.

Some documents you should have are:

For more information, see Going to Conciliation - Step by step guide​.

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