In a recent landmark decision of the Fair Work Commission (FWC) which will no doubt have widespread implications for the Australian ‘gig-economy’, the FWC has held that a former Foodora Australia Pty Ltd (Foodora) delivery driver (the Worker) was an employee and not an independent contractor, “despite the attempt to create the existence of an […]
Case #1 In a recent decision, the Fair Work Commission (FWC) held that the demotion of a service supervisor (the Employee) to that of a mechanical service technician constituted dismissal within the meaning of s 386 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (the Act). This decision was made despite a clause in the relevant […]
A recent decision of the Full Court of the Federal Court (Federal Court) has highlighted the cost associated with misclassifying employees as casual. On 16 August 2018, the Federal Court found that a labour hire employee was entitled to annual leave benefits despite being ostensibly engaged as a casual by WorkPac Pty Ltd (WorkPac). The […]
Each workplace is unique. An effective workplace policy will ensure that its workplace policies and practices evolve with the organisation and its internal and external environment. That said, the reason for policies remains the same: to mitigate legal risks for the organisation and align its employees with the organisation’s expectations and procedures. For many human […]
Two recent decisions of the FWC have once again highlighted the importance of strict adherence to the requirements in FWC forms, particularly those pertaining to bargaining for and approval of an enterprise agreement (‘EA’). In Uniline Australia Limited [2016], the Full Bench declined to approve the EA on the basis of the deficient Notice of […]
In a recent decision in the Supreme Court, an employer was found to have breached its duty of care by failing to prevent an employee from developing a foreseeable psychiatric injury in the course of his employment. Castricum Brothers Pty Ltd (‘the Defendant’), a meat processing company, required Mr Roussety (‘the Plaintiff’) to be on […]
The Federal Circuit Court (“the FCC”) has ordered that Mr Bijal Sheth, operator of a Brisbane cleaning company that is in liquidation (“the Company”), pay a “record” $126,540 personal penalty and almost $60,000 of back pay to the Company’s workers. The Fair Work Ombudsman (“the FWO”), which brought the legal action against Mr Sheth. This […]
In the recent case of APT Technology Pty Ltd v Aladesaye; In the Matter of APT Technology Pty Ltd (No 2) [2016] FCA 203; the Federal Court held Mr Aladesaye, a former employee of APT Technology (‘the Employer’), to be permanently restrained from disclosing the Employer’s confidential information and/or intellectual property. Mr Aladesaye was summarily […]
A recent decision of the New South Wales Supreme Court, Court of Appeal (‘the Court of Appeal’) has again highlighted the enigmatic nature of employment policies and representations, acting as a caution to employers when making promises to employees, and drafting employment contracts and workplace policies. In late 2008, Mr McKeith and Mr James were […]
A recent case before the FWC demonstrates the importance of ensuring procedural fairness in dismissing an employee. In Kirkbright v K&S Freighters Pty Ltd [2016] FWC 1555, Commissioner Bissett held that, although the employer had a valid reason for dismissing Mr Colin Kirkbright, the deficiencies in the employer’s dismissal procedure resulted in the dismissal being […]