Commissioner ruled strict deadlines apply regardless of location or mental health evidence
Ten minutes late filing from overseas cost a dismissed employee her entire case. The Fair Work Commission ruled strict deadlines apply, mental health struggles notwithstanding.
Yangkajia Wang filed her dismissal claim at 10:05pm Shanghai time on September 19, 2025—which was September 20, 2025 in Australia. She was in Shanghai, where her therapist had recommended she travel while dealing with the fallout from losing her job at Enel X Australia. The deadline was midnight on September 19 in Australian Eastern Standard Time.
Wang missed it. The 21-day window for general protections applications runs on Australian Eastern Standard Time, no matter where the applicant happens to be. At 10:05pm Shanghai time, it was already past midnight in Australia. Wang was less than ten minutes late.
In a February 3, 2026 decision, Commissioner Connolly dismissed the application outright. The substantive allegations about Wang's August 29, 2025 dismissal would never be examined. The Fair Work Act allows extensions only for "exceptional circumstances," and Wang hadn't cleared that bar.
Her situation seemed sympathetic enough. Wang had been experiencing stress, anxiety and depression related to her workplace treatment. She had a mental health care plan from her GP, attended therapy appointments, and traveled to Shanghai on professional advice to recover. On the final filing day, she waited five hours for a...
Key Takeaways Aetna allegedly leveraged inaccurate Medicare Advantage diagnosis coding to elevate risk adjustment payments, including morbid obesity coding inconsistent with clinical documentatio...