National Retailer Runs FWC Responses In-House With Quillio
A 4-person in-house employment team at a national retail employer with 12,000+ staff uses Quillio to draft F3 responses to unfair dismissal applications under s394 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth). The team brought all Tier 2 response work in-house — handling around 140 F3 responses per year and reducing external employment law spend by around $620,000 annualised.
What they were trying to solve
The employer was receiving 140-180 unfair dismissal applications a year, largely from a high-turnover retail workforce across every state. Previously, every F3 response went to an external employment firm at $450-650 per hour, and the in-house team was primarily coordinating rather than drafting. The General Manager HR wanted the work brought in-house to improve consistency and response quality.
Why Quillio
Quillio was configured with the employer's investigation playbook, standard performance management documentation requirements, and the s387 factors analysis. The in-house team now drafts F3 responses from the investigation file, with external counsel only engaged for high-risk matters (Tier 1 — allegations involving discrimination, sexual harassment, or general protections claims).
Implementation
The team piloted Quillio on 10 pending matters, comparing output against recent external firm responses to the same kind of matters. Calibration took one week.
Measurable outcomes
Up from ~20 per year before Quillio; external firms now only brief for Tier 1
Tier 2 unfair dismissal responses brought in-house
From investigation file to lodgement-ready response
All responses now apply the same s387 factor analysis format
Settlement range predicted by Quillio has been within 10% of actual outcomes in 85% of matters
"Our external employment spend had crept up year on year, mostly on Tier 2 matters we could handle ourselves if we had the right tools. Quillio has given us those tools. We still use external firms on the hard stuff — but the routine unfair dismissal response work is now genuinely in-house, and better for it."
How it works in practice
F3 response drafting under s394 Fair Work Act 2009, workplace investigation documentation, performance management procedural review, and conciliation preparation.
What they avoided
Continuing to outsource all unfair dismissal responses to external firms at hourly rates or hiring two additional in-house employment lawyers to handle the volume manually.
Case study FAQs
Does Quillio cover the s387 procedural fairness factors?
Yes — every F3 response includes a mapping against each of the s387 factors, including valid reason, notification, opportunity to respond, procedural fairness, and the small business fair dismissal code where relevant.
What about general protections claims under s365?
Quillio drafts F8A responses, but the in-house team still escalates general protections claims to external counsel due to the reverse onus provisions. Quillio prepares the brief material.
Can it handle state-specific considerations?
Yes — including state WHS legislation, long service leave variations, and state-specific award modern awards obligations.
How does it handle investigation reports?
Quillio drafts the investigation report in the employer's standard format from interview notes and documentary evidence, which the investigator signs off on.
Does the employer data stay onshore?
Yes — all investigation material and response drafts stay on Australian-hosted infrastructure with SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 certifications.
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