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Set aside an employment claims order made in your absence

If you fail to attend your case management conference or hearing, a default order may be made against you. You may then apply to set aside the order.

If you missed a court session

A default order may be made against you if you are absent from your case management conference (CMC) or Employment Claims Tribunals (ECT) hearing.

A default order can be:

Made by a tribunal or a registrar.
A money order or dismissal order.

If you are the respondent who fails to attend court, a default money order may be made in favour of the claimant. This means you will have to pay the claimant the sum of money stated in the order by the due date, failing which the claimant may start enforcement proceedings against you.
If you are the claimant who fails to attend court, a default dismissal order may be made against you. This means that your claim has been dismissed.

Set aside a default order

If you are dissatisfied when a default money order or dismissal order was made against you in your absence, you may wish to apply to set aside the order. Your application must be filed within 7 days after the date the default order was made.

Note

Key facts

If you are applying to set aside the order, you are the applicant.

The other party is the respondent.

Refer to the following to find out how to set aside an employment claims order.

When to file	Within 7 days after the date the default order was made.
Filing fee	$30
How to apply	Through the Community Justice and Tribunals System (CJTS)

What you will need

You should prepare the following (where applicable) before you apply:

Your claim number.
The order number.
Your reasons for the set aside application.
A soft copy of supporting documents (if any) in PDF format.

How to apply

You will need to follow these steps.

Step	Result
1. Apply to set aside order	Your application to set aside order is filed in CJTS.
2. Serve documents on the other party	The respondent is notified of your intention to set aside order.

When: within 7 days after the date the default order was made.

Log in to CJTS. Under the Online Applications tab, select Set Aside Application and follow the instructions to fill in the required information.

For detailed instructions, refer to the CJTS user guide for filing employment disputes (PDF, 4.54 MB).

You will be notified via CJTS on the next steps and receive the following in your CJTS case folder:

A Notice of Application.
A Notice of Hearing to Set Aside stating the date and time you have to attend court.

When: within 7 days after the date of filing the application to set aside.

You will have to serve the following documents on the other party:

The Notice of Application
The Notice of Hearing to Set Aside.

You may serve the documents through one of the following ways:

Service method	What it is
Personal Delivery	Delivering hard copies of the documents personally to the respondent.
Registered post	(if to an individual) Sending hard copies of the documents to the respondent's last known residential or registered address in an envelope addressed to them. (if to a business entity) Sending hard copies of the documents to the respondent's ACRA registered address in an envelope addressed to them.
Others	Delivering the documents by any means (including fax or email) as directed by the ECT.

Service method

What it is

Personal Delivery

Delivering hard copies of the documents personally to the respondent.

Registered post

(if to an individual) Sending hard copies of the documents to the respondent's last known residential or registered address in an envelope addressed to them.

(if to a business entity) Sending hard copies of the documents to the respondent's ACRA registered address in an envelope addressed to them.

Others

Delivering the documents by any means (including fax or email) as directed by the ECT.

After you apply

You and the respondent will have to attend court on the scheduled date and time mentioned in the Notice of Hearing to Set Aside. This is when a tribunal or a registrar will decide whether to allow or dismiss your application.

If your application is allowed, the order will be set aside.

If your application is dismissed, the order stands.

The tribunal or the registrar may also make other orders or give further directions as they deem fit.

Note

If you receive a Notice of Hearing to Set Aside

If you receive a Notice of Hearing to Set Aside from the applicant, you must attend court on the date and time mentioned. This is because the tribunal or registrar may proceed with a default order against you if you are absent.

You may file and serve a response on the applicant within 7 working days if you wish to dispute their application to set aside. This can be done by selecting the General Application under the Online Applications tab in CJTS.

Need help?

The information here is for general guidance as the courts do not provide legal advice. If you need further help, you may want to get independent legal advice.

Find out more