A s.394 – (Unfair dismissal) application from Elizabeth Reidy citing the IRT Illawarra Retirement Trust has been rejected by Commissioner Bissett in Melbourne on 11 December 2020. “On 17 November 2020, Ms Elizabeth Reidy made an application to the Fair Work Commission (the Commission) for a remedy for unfair dismissal pursuant to s.394 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (FW Act). The application was incomplete in that Ms Reidy did not pay the required fee or file a completed waiver form. On 17 November 2020 the Commission attempted to contact Ms Reidy on her nominated telephone number to discuss payment of the required fee however, Ms Reidy did not answer the call. A voicemail message was left requesting Ms Reidy contact the Commission to arrange payment of the required fee. Later that day, the Commission posted correspondence to Ms Reidy’s nominated postal address advising that her application required payment of the filing fee or a completed waiver form if she wished to proceed with the application. That correspondence also warned that if payment was not made or a waiver form was not received within 14 days, the application may be dismissed. Later that day, Ms Reidy contacted the Commission and requested for the filing fee to be waived. Ms Reidy was advised that a waiver form would be posted to Ms Reidy’s nominated postal address and the completed waiver would need to be received within 14 days. A final attempt to contact Ms Reidy was made by the Commission on 1 December 2020 to obtain payment or a completed waiver form. The call was not answered, and a voicemail message was left advising Ms Reidy that payment of the required fee was still outstanding. To date there has been no response from Ms Reidy, the required fee has not been paid and a completed waiver form has not been received. Having regard to the circumstances of this matter, I am satisfied that as the application was not accompanied by the fee prescribed by the FW Act, the application was not made in accordance with the FW Act. As such, the application is dismissed pursuant to s.587(1)(a) of the FW Act. An Order to this effect will be issued shortly,” said Commissioner Bissett.
