Archive | Legal News

Bullying Accusation Falls Short

The Fair Work Commission (“FWC”) has rejected an allegation of bullying made by an employee of a charitable organisation (“the Organisation”). Mr Garcia (“the Employee”) claimed that he had been bullied under s 759FC of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (“FWA”), accusing the organisation of giving his usual shifts to another employee because he […]

No ‘Gold Star’ for Star Casino in Wage Underpayment Scandal

The current wage underpayment compliance climate has claimed its latest culprit… the Star Entertainment Group Limited (Star Casino) who has announced it will spend approximately $13 million (plus interest) to repay around 2200 workers it found were underpaid over a six-year period. This underpayment case reiterates the importance of conducting regular audits of company payments […]

Worker Sacked for Offensive Facebook Posts

Background The employee (“the Employee”) worked as a call centre employee for the Australian Council of Trade Unions (“the ACTU”) in Victoria. On 21 September 2021, an ACTU Director (“the Director”) discovered posts by the Employee on its Slack platform and his personal Facebook account that it considered offensive, homophobic, antisemitic, mocked domestic violence and […]

Employee working from home fails to comply with a workplace direction to return to work

Will an employer have a ‘valid reason’ for dismissing an employee if they refuse to return to work after being issued a workplace direction to do so? In a recent decision, the Fair Work Commission (FWC) has decided that employers will have valid reason in such circumstances, provided that the direction to return to work […]

Workplaces hit hard by Omicron Wave: Impact of the latest public health orders

In only the last few weeks, workplaces have taken a major hit due to the surge of Omicron. With case numbers now in the tens of thousands, Omicron poses enormous challenges for the community, supply chains, and the workforce across New South Wales. To ensure that essential services such as supermarket chains and healthcare remain […]

Fair Work Commission Shuts Down Employer’s Plan to Cut Redundancy Payout

Savco Vegetation Services Pty Ltd (“the Company”) has failed to persuade the Fair Work Commission (“FWC”) that helping a worker secure a job warranted not paying a worker their redundancy entitlement. The Company applied to the FWC to reduce the worker’s redundancy pay from eight weeks to nil on the basis it was a “strong […]

Maximum Term Contract leaves referee on the Bench

A General Protections claim before the Fair Work Commission (“FWC”) has been “stopped in its tracks” before it even started. The FWC held that a National Rugby League (“NRL”) referee was not dismissed, but rather, his “maximum-term” 12-month contract expired. It is for this reason that the FWC had no jurisdiction over the matter as […]

Government Power to Mandate Vaccinations Upheld by Supreme Court

A series of challenges to mandatory vaccination requirements has been dismissed on all grounds by the New South Wales Supreme Court. Legal Challenge The legal challenges, lodged on behalf of ‘essential workers’ in the construction, health and aged care and education industries, sought to challenge the validity of the NSW public health orders that restrict […]

Flexible working arrangements and when they simply don’t work

Under the National Employment Standards, employees have a right to request from their employer flexible working arrangements in some circumstances. Such requests may involve changes to work hours, patterns or locations so that an employees may either, maintain a work-life balance, continue their caring responsibilities, or may be able to work despite major interruptions to […]