In a recent decision, the Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission has created some doubt about the utility of maximum term contracts, especially where the employer provides a series of maximum term contracts to an employee. Brief Facts and First Instance Decision The Employee in this case was employed through a series of ‘maximum […]
The Federal Circuit Court has rejected that a security company took adverse action against an obese security guard (‘Applicant’), after the worker claimed he had been discriminated against because of his obesity. The Applicant was engaged to work in a control room at a university campus. As a result of proven performance concerns, the University […]
A recent decision of Judge Vasta of the Federal Circuit Court reiterates the need for a careful and considered approach in making decisions involving pregnant employees. In this decision it seems that in trying to do what it thought was the right thing, the employer inadvertently (and perhaps ignorantly) fell foul of laws put in […]
The Fair Work Ombudsman has been successful in its recent push for penalties against an accountancy firm and a human resources manager, who were found to be accessorily liable for their client/employer’s contraventions. Earlier in November, the Federal Court fined a HR Manager $21,760, after it found that she was accessorily liable for the breaches […]
The Federal Court of Australia has fined an employer who refused a employee the opportunity to convert his casual employment to equivalent full-time employment. The employee was a freight handler with a major transport company. The employee had a right to elect to convert from casual employment to equivalent permanent employment under the both the […]
The Fair Work Commission has recently delivered another instructive decision for employers. The decision again brings into the spotlight the threshold for establishing serious misconduct, but also provides a significant deterrent to employees who lie about their qualifications. In this case the Applicant was employed as Finance Manager for a not for profit group of […]
A wholesale floristry company has successfully defended the unfair dismissal application of a former supervisor. The Fair Work Commission heard that in March 2017, the Supervisor was involved in two incidents, six days apart. In the first incident, two employees advised the Employer of an incident where the Supervisor had “unzipped his pants, removed his […]
On 4 September 2017, the Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Vulnerable Workers) Bill 2017, passed through the Senate, and after approval of its amendments by the House of Representatives, is now awaiting Royal Assent. Upon receiving Royal Assent, most of the changes contained in the Bill will immediately become active provisions of the Fair Work Act […]
The Supreme Court of Victoria has granted an injunction to an IT company (‘the Applicant’) that commenced an interlocutory application to have an employee (‘the Employee’) restrained from working for a competitor for four years. Prior to June 2016, the Employee had a company which owned 40% of the shares in the Applicant’s company. The […]
This particular case involved an employee who was required to have an extended unpaid absence from her employment as a cleaner following complicated surgery to her ankle. About four months after the surgery, a representative of the employer had a discussion with the Applicant about her medical condition and her prospects of a return to […]