A tribunal in Queensland has awarded a sexually harassed and assaulted worker $140,000 in damages. The worker was employed by Oishi Teppanyaki & Café Pty Limited as a waitress and worked split shifts. The owner of the café contravened s 119 of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 (Qld) by non-consensually touching the waitress and locking the […]
In the recent decision of Priyansh Singh Panwar v Portier Pacific Pty Ltd [2025] FWC 1578 (the Decision) the Fair Work Commission (the FWC) has declined an application for an unfair deactivation on the basis that s 536LD(c) of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the FWA) concerns a single period of work, rather than multiple […]
In the recent decision of Mater Misericordiae Ltd Trading AS Mater v Robyn Tyler [2025] FWC 1396 (the Decision), the Fair Work Commission (the FWC) determined that an employee cannot reject “other acceptable employment” on the basis that the new role does not allow for flexible working arrangements. Case Overview Ms. Tyler commenced employment with […]
A parliamentary inquiry by the Economy and Infrastructure Committee (the Committee) led by Labor MP Alison Marchant (the Inquiry) has found that laws governing workplace surveillance are outdated. The Inquiry asserts that recent technological advancements as well as the long-term impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic which have seen workers shift to remote working has led […]
The Fair Work Commission (the FWC) have exercised new powers to deal with disputes regarding gig economy workers and ‘unfair deactivation’ in the recent decision of Ibrahim Jibril [2025] FWC 1289 (the Decision). As such, the FWC determined that an Uber driver was not protected by the new unfair deactivation provisions under the Fair Work […]
In the recent decision of Renee Passmore v The Trustee for The CBC Lawyers Unit Trust, Sandra Clive [2025] FWC 575 (the Decision) the Fair Work Commission (the FWC) has stated that it will refer a law firm to the Fair Work Ombudsman for unauthorised deductions from employee wages in breach of the Legal Services […]
In the recent Federal Court of Australia decision of Wollermann v Fortrend Securities Pty Ltd [2025] FCA 103 (the Decision) an employer’s attempt to defer payment of an employee’s contractual bonus to which they were already entitled to has been found to be in contravention of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (the FW Act). […]
The Minns Government has proposed legislation, being the Industrial Relations Amendment (Transport Sector Gig Workers and Others) Bill 2025 (NSW) (the Bill), which aims to extend certain provisions of the Industrial Relations Act 1996 (NSW) (the Act) to give protections to transport sector gig workers engaged in contracts of carriage by providing these workers with […]
In a recent development, the Albanese Labor Government has proposed the introduction of legislation which will create a ‘blanket ban’ on non-compete clauses in employment contracts for workers earning less than the high-income threshold, currently being $175,000.00 (indexed annually) (the Proposed Ban). Non-Compete Clauses Non-compete clauses are clauses found in an employment contract which impose […]
The Fair Work Commission (the FWC) has made several recent orders requiring an employer to implement a flexible work arrangement (FWA) following a refusal of an employee’s request under “reasonable business grounds’’. In making these orders, the FWC determined that the objectives of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (the Act) and corresponding National Employment […]