Your employer's response to your application

​​What happens after you make an application?

After you apply, the Fair Work Commission (the Commission) will send the employer a notice telling them that you have made an unfair dismissal application. The notice will include:

• a copy of your application
• a document setting out when the conciliation will happen (a notice of listing)
• a Form F3 - Employer's Response to Unfair Dismissal Application.

Your employer must fill out form F3 to respond to your application.

In the form, your employer must state:

• its name and address
• the dates you were employed
• the reason(s) you were dismissed
• its response to the application
• any jurisdictional or other objections to the application (for example: that the application was filed too late, or the employee was not covered by national unfair dismissal laws)
• the number of employees that it employed when you were dismissed.

Your employer must return the form to the Commission and send a copy to you before the conciliation.

The different ways your employer can send you a document are:

• by email, if you put an email address on your application
• by fax, if you put a fax number on your application
• by registered post or express post to the address you put on your application
• by leaving it with you or any person apparently over the age of 15 years at your home.

If you do not receive a copy of your employer's response, you should contact the Commission.

Sample: Form F3 - Employer's response to unfair dismissal application

If your employer does not file a form F3 with the Commission, the conciliation that has been listed for your matter will still go ahead at the scheduled time.

A jurisdictional objection is when your employer says that there are legal reasons why the Commission cannot deal with your case. For example, your employer may say that you are not able to make an unfair dismissal application because you did not complete the minimum employment period or you made your application more than 21 days after the dismissal.

If your employer has a jurisdictional objection about your application, your case will still go to a conciliation.

For information about jurisdictional objections, see Hearing.

For more information about when you can make an unfair dismissal application, see Can you apply? and What is unfair dismissal?

If your employer simply says in their response that they disagree that you were unfairly dismissed, this is not a jurisdictional objection. If your employer says that they object to your application, or you do not understand anything in the employer's response, you should get legal advice.