Always negotiate from a position of strength, your entitled to put your best foot forward. You end up dismissed or worse end up as a police matter or in a trial. At the Fair work Commission negotiating outcomes for your unfair dismissal or general protections claim is a way of life.
The conflict is you as an employee of course for justified reasons, want as much as your can get. The employer wants to pay you the least amount possible. Negotiating is an integral part of dispute resolution and reaching settlement agreements. When negotiation, it is important to acknowledge when conduct could cross the line between aggressive and zealous advocacy and extortion. Utilizing sensitive information to blackmail. Extort or compel your employer to pay you out. Threatening them the media, or a social media campaign will not be highly regarded should the matter be heard before a Court or Tribunal.
The employee negotiating, argued that the employer sought to coerce her to abandon her claim under the Fair Work Act Cth. This was by threatening to refer her conduct to the Legal Services Commission.
In order to demonstrate an intent to coerce, the employer must have intended to exert pressure to negate choice and negating choice requires something more than influence or persuasion and implies a high degree of compulsion. Further, the employee argued that the threat was unlawful in that section 17 of the Federal Circuit Court Act confers upon the Court the power to punish a person for contempt where their action interferes with the course of justice.
The employee argued that contempt includes actions that have a tendency to improperly pressure a party to withdraw from court proceedings. A contempt will still have occurred notwithstanding that the party elects to continue with their claim.
