How Long A Poor Performance Claim Takes
If you were placed on a performance plan before dismissal, here is how the timeline usually runs.
Does The Performance Plan Stage Count Toward My Deadline
A poor performance dismissal often follows a performance improvement plan, sometimes called a PIP. Documented warnings usually come with it.
None of that period counts against your filing window. The window begins only once the dismissal happens, and gives you sixty days to act1.
The plan affects your evidence, not your deadline. Gather the targets, the review dates, and any written warnings before you file. They usually shape how the case is argued later.
What Happens Once You File
After filing, JPPM usually arranges one or two conciliation sessions2. An officer mediates between you and your employer.
Solicitors are not part of this stage. Having your plan and warnings organised beforehand matters more than legal representation in the room.
If conciliation does not settle the matter, the case moves straight from the Director General to the Industrial Court. There is no ministerial screening step, unlike before 20213. That change shortened one part of the path, though the total length still depends on your case.
Why Comparator Evidence Changes The Timeline
A performance case often turns on whether you got a genuine chance to improve. It also turns on whether others in the same role faced the same treatment for similar shortfalls.
Gathering that comparison takes time upfront. You need names, roles, and outcomes for people you can fairly compare yourself to.
A well-documented comparison usually shortens the hearing itself. It gives the court a concrete answer instead of a general complaint about unfairness.
Setting Realistic Expectations
Start with the one date that actually matters. Use the sixty day deadline calculator, since missing it ends your options regardless of how the plan went.
The dismissal for poor performance entity page explains what a fair performance process usually includes. For more on the court stage itself, see the Industrial Court entity page.
The guide on how long a misconduct dismissal claim takes is worth reading if your case also involves a conduct allegation. A lawyer who has reviewed your plan and warnings can give you a grounded sense of timing.
If you want a realistic sense of how your own performance plan and warnings affect timing, a lawyer can walk you through it.
Common questions
Does the length of my performance improvement plan affect my filing deadline
No, your sixty day window starts from the date of dismissal, not from when the performance plan began or ended. A long plan beforehand does not add time to file once you are actually let go.
Should I gather my performance improvement plan documents before I file
Yes, collect the plan itself, any targets it set, and every warning or review tied to it before you file. Those documents tend to matter more at the hearing stage than at conciliation.
How long does conciliation take in a performance case
JPPM usually arranges one or two sessions, mediated by an officer from the department. Whether it resolves there often depends on how clearly both sides can show what the performance plan actually required.
Does comparing my treatment with other employees slow things down
It can add preparation time upfront, since you need to gather how others in the same role were treated. Good comparator evidence usually speeds up the hearing itself, because it answers a question the court will ask anyway.
Sources
- An employee who believes a dismissal had no just cause or excuse can file a written representation to the Director General of Industrial Relations within 60 days of the dismissal Mah Weng Kwai & Associates
- After a Section 20 representation, JPPM typically arranges one or two conciliation sessions, and solicitors are not permitted to represent either side at that stage Mah Weng Kwai & Associates
- Since the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2020 took effect, an unresolved case goes straight from the Director General to the Industrial Court without ministerial screening MECA
Keep reading
If you want a realistic sense of how your own performance plan and warnings affect timing, a lawyer can walk you through it.