Employees will, at different stages of their working life, take time off work to deal with illnesses or injuries that are not work-related. Employees who are “temporarily” absent due to injury or illness are protected against dismissal where the dismissal is related to their absence. The question of a “temporary” absence is often vexed. In […]
The Fair Work Commission (‘Commission’) has recently found that a “mature” employee who “deliberately” failed to follow her employer’s lawful and reasonable direction to turn her personal mobile phone off while at work, and not attend to her private business matters during work time, was not unfairly dismissed. Background In December 2020, the employee was […]
Sunshine Coast Lawyer, Harry McDonald has joined Employment Law firm, Aitken Legal, to focus on becoming a specialist Employment Lawyer. Harry, who was born on the Sunshine Coast and was recently recognised by the Sunshine Coast Daily as a Top 12 young SC Lawyer will work closely with the firm’s senior lawyers to deliver employment law […]
Aitken Legal often assists employers to defend unfair dismissal claims from former employees who have either been dismissed or where they consider they have been forced to resign. In this video, Hamish Procter from Aitken Legal, gives you an overview of what to expect when you first receive an unfair dismissal claim. Typically, an employer […]
Two Senior Associates from specialist employment law firm, Aitken Legal, have been recognised as Rising Stars for 2022 by the Australasian Lawyer. Senior Associates Hamish Procter and Kate Simpson both demonstrated leadership and significant achievements in relation to employment law and industrial relations advice they provided to clients across all industries during 2021. Australasian Lawyers […]
On 9 February 2022, the High Court of Australia handed down two highly anticipated decisions: Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union & Anor v Personnel Contracting Pty Ltd [2022] HCA 1 (‘Personnel’); and ZG Operations & Anor v Jamsek & Ors [2022] HCA 2 (‘Jamsek’). The decisions confirm that where the parties have committed […]
Last week the High Court handed down two highly anticipated decisions, the first decision determined that an unskilled construction labourer engaged by a labour hire company was an employee despite a signed Administrative Services Agreement (‘ASA’) describing the worker as a “self-employed contractor”. The second decision determined that two truck drivers, despite providing exclusive delivery […]
2022 is now well under way and after the continued disruption caused by COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021, 2022 is the time for employers to refocus and make sure that they have their human resources house in order. In this video, Hamish Procter from Aitken Legal raises a few significant steps that Employers should consider […]
In a recent unfair dismissal decision, the Fair Work Commission (‘FWC’) confirmed that a crane company had a valid reason to dismiss a mobile crane operator (‘employee’), who attended an illegal protest in contravention of a Victorian Government public health stay-at-home order (‘PHO’). Significantly, the FWC rejected the employee’s claim that although he had attended […]
2021 has been a challenging one for employers. Not only have we seen many of our clients grapple with the ongoing impact of COVID-19 and the legal challenges that have come with it, but also do their best to keep up-to-date with many other employment law related developments throughout the year. In this Employment Update […]
