A recent Full Federal Court of Australia (‘FCA’) decision has clarified the intention and scope of sections 89 and 98 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (‘FW Act’), which ostensibly seek to preclude employers from deducting public holidays from annual leave or personal/carer’s leave balances, when such public holidays coincide with a period of paid annual […]
In a recent decision of the Federal Court of Australia (‘FCA’) [1] the Full Bench of the FCA held that BHP Coal (‘the Defendant’) was entitled to dismiss a boilermaker (‘the Employee’) who refused to attend a company ordered medical appointment, which was intended to assess his fitness to return to work. In 2011 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 […]
The Federal Circuit Court of Australia in Cai v Tiy Loy & Co Ltd (No. 3) [2016] FCCA 675 ordered Tiy Loy & Co Ltd (“Tiy Loy”) to pay more than $400,000 in compensation and penalties of more than $50,000 for unlawful adverse action against its employee, Mr Ree Bin Cai. This recent decision reinforces […]