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ARTICLE · 05 FEBRUARY 2015

Courts will not second-guess the credible decision-maker in general protections cases

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The Court will resolve the dismissal-related questions by having regard to all the facts established in the proceedings.

AustraliaEmployment and HR
Charles Power
Charles Power
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Since the commencement of the general protections scheme in the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FW Act) the number of dismissal-related general protections claims have continued to increase both in overall numbers and as a percentage of dismissal claims received by the Fair Work Commission. Dismissal-related general protections claims lodged last year amounted about 15% of overall dismissal claims received under the FW Act.

One of the central issues in any general protections claim is the actual reason or reasons which motivated the decision-maker within the employer to take the adverse action. The Court will resolve this question having regard to all the facts established in the proceeding.

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