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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
In the first investigation of its kind, WorkSafe Victoria is investigating the COVID-19 death of a 46-year-old call centre Serco employee, Martin Blight, who was identified as a close contact at his workplace’s exposure site. The investigation was commenced following pressure from the Australian Services Union (ASU) for the workplace regulator to make inquiries into […]
In the midst of increasing vaccine policies and conflicting public advice, many businesses are more confused than ever with respect to what they can require of their employees with respect to their vaccination status. In public statements, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said that it will be up to individual employers to determine what steps […]
In a recent judgment of the Court of Appeal of Victoria (the Court), the Court held that two employees were not entitled to long service leave (LSL) entitlements because they primarily performed their work outside of the State of Victoria (the State). In Infosys Technologies Limited v State of Victoria, the Court was required to […]
In an unusually long and detailed decision stretching over 100 pages, the Fair Work Commission (Commission) has dismissed an application by an investment fund Portfolio Manager seeking ‘stop bullying’ orders against his direct manager (Head of Strategy) and his employer (Funds Management Company) after six days of hearings. The Complaint The Portfolio Manager made a […]
In recent news, NSW Police have announced that they have referred the case of the airport transport driver involved in the recent Sydney Covid-19 outbreak to SafeWork NSW. This referral is intended to allow SafeWork NSW to investigate whether the driver and the business for which he worked have complied with work health and safety […]
SafeWork Australia has announced a new campaign related to occupational lung diseases. The campaign, entitled ‘Clean Air. Clear Lungs’, focuses on less known and often unseen risks to the health of workers’ lungs in a variety of working environments. The knowledge of the workplace risk of developing lung diseases has increased in recent years. While […]
A company director has received a 2 year and 2 month gaol sentence for the death of a worker while at work in Western Australia. It is a record prison term in that the director will be the first person to serve gaol time under workplace health and safety laws in Australia. In 2020, Jake […]