Gopalakrishnan v Engineering & Maintenance Solutions Pty Ltd ATF Engineering & Maintenance Solutions Unit Trust [2016] FWC 2515

Result

defendant. Application dismissed. No exceptional circumstances warranting extension of time.

Key principles

• The Fair Work Commission must be satisfied that there are exceptional circumstances before granting an extension of time under s.366(2) of the Fair Work Act 2009 for a general...
• Mere ignorance of the statutory time limit or the different types of general protections applications is not an exceptional circumstance.
• The onus rests on the applicant to ensure their application is made in accordance with the Act; this onus is not diminished by the Commission's failure to contact the applicant...
• The fact that an applicant filed a general protections application not involving dismissal (s.372) prior to dismissal, believing it would protect against future dismissal, does...

Issues before the court

• Whether exceptional circumstances exist under s.366(2) of the Fair Work Act 2009 to extend the time for filing a general protections application...
• Whether the Commission's failure to contact the applicant after receiving the respondent's foreshadowing of termination constitutes exceptional...