Preparing for Work May Not Be Work
In Seo v Bindaree Food Group Pty Ltd [2020] FWC 6468 the issue of whether preparing for work can be categorised as work arose. Mr Seo’s complaint was that having to remove personal protective equipment and clean himself before he entered the break room meant that he...
WorkPac v Rossato: Special Leave Application Granted
On Thursday, 26 November 2020, the High Court of Australia granted labour hire company, WorkPac, special leave to appeal the recent Full Court decision of WorkPac Pty Ltd v Rossato [2020] FCAFC 84 (Rossato). Rossato Prior to the Rossato decision, casual workers had...
Useful Guidance On When Employees Can Be Stood Down
As the global pandemic continues to present uncertainty to various industries, Justice Geoffrey Flick’s decision in Qantas Airways Ltd v Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association (No 3) [2020] FCA 1428 provides guidance on determining the lawfulness of a...
Redundancy: Have You Been Turned Over?
You are a cleaner who works for a company, which holds a cleaning contract for a shopping centre. What happens to you when the company loses the cleaning contract? Well unless the company can place you at another site at which it still holds a contract or the new...
It Pays to Pay
With the passing of the Wage Theft Act 2020 on 16 June 2020, the Victorian Government is criminalising intentional underpayments by employers. The Act also establishes the Wage Inspectorate Victoria to investigate and prosecute offending employers. The Act comes into...
The Lessons From Workpac
On 20 May 2020 the Full Court of the Federal Court gave judgment in WorkPac Pty Ltd v Rossato [2020] FCAFC 84. In contemporary times few decisions on employment conditions have excited as much media attention and commentary as WorkPac did. The reaction to it was...
Work Not Shirk
Night shift has been the subject of comedy but it was no laughing matter for hospital employees who were sacked after spending work time in a tearoom sometimes with the lights off when they should have been working. The employees in question worked for the Royal...
Covid-19 and Redundancy
Under section 120 of the Fair Work Act an employer can seek to reduce the redundancy payment to employees it is terminating. In considering whether to reduce a redundancy payment, Fair Work Commission must be mindful of why redundancy payments exist in the first...
Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) – Further Updates for Employers in These Uncertain Times
In response to our first article, which you may access here, and the additional measures imposed by the Australian and Victorian governments, further issues and concerns have been raised by our clients. As such, we have collated a further guide to answer common...
Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) – An Update for Employers in These Uncertain Times
As this dreadful virus continues to escalate and cause devastation all over the world, is it important we understand what we can do to reduce its further impact. From midday Monday, 23 March 2020, the Morrison Government implemented mandatory lockdowns in an effort to...
Asleep at the Ferry Wheel
In Sclater v Transdev Harbour City Ferries Pty Ltd T/A Transdev Harbour City Ferries [2019] FWC 7968, a Ferry Master received a rude awakening when he was caught napping on board a Sydney ferry while supposedly on duty. The Ferry Master’s slumber was exposed when a...
Australia’s Wage Theft Scandal, Big Names and Bigger Bucks
Wage theft, it’s the hot workplace topic of the moment with many of Australia’s favourite brands and personalities embroiled in the scandal. Woolworths is just the most recent of a long list of Australian employers stepping into the underpayment spotlight, with the...
Job Kept After Big Night Out
The case of Puszka v Ryan Wilks [2019] FWC 1132 shows that after hours behaviour can have consequences for employment, although in this case the Fair Work Commission agreed that the employer’s dismissal of the employee was unfair and ordered the employee’s...
Forget the Federal Election; the Only Labor I Care About is Labour Hire!
Labour hire services agreements will be regulated and enforced in Victoria under the Labour Hire Licensing Act 2018 (Vic) from 30 October 2019. The types of Agreements to be regulated include for work to be performed in Victoria and arrangements made within...
Unpaid Leave and Continuous Service
As fires raged across parts of Australia this summer employees took leave from their work to fight them in volunteer fire brigades. Unless they had an agreement with their employers this leave would have been unpaid. What does taking unpaid leave mean for the concept...
I Quit. Now What Do I Do About This Restraint of Trade?
If you are employed in professional services, you will most likely have a post-employment restraint clause in your employment contract. So, what is it and what does it mean when the employment relationship ends. A restraint of trade is a contractual clause that seeks...
Redundancy V Unfair Dismissal
A recent decision of the Fair Work Commission McShane v Port of Newcastle [2019] FWC 177 has restated the principles around redundancy. Mr McShane argued the Port of Newcastle’s decision to make his position redundant was not genuine and that as a result he had been...
Stress Not Enough to Extend Time
Two recent decisions of the Fair Work Commission have demonstrated the difficulty employees face if they do not lodge their unfair dismissal applications within the 21 day period. In the first instance the employee was two years and two months late (Ellikuttige v...
Workplace Dismissal – Who Do You Believe?
But I’m telling the truth! What happens when the parties to a case have varying accounts of what was said and done? Who is to be believed? In the matter of Ashley Duddington v Mario and Clara Enterprises Pty Ltd and Morgan Trading Pty Ltd, a former restaurant manager...
Unfair Dismissal – Your Worker Has Been With You for How Long?
How long does an employee have to be employed before they’re eligible to make an unfair dismissal claim?The short answer is “that depends on the size of your business.” If you’re a small business, the employee will have 12 months before they can claim eligibility. If...
Doubt About Status of Casual Employment
A recent decision of the Federal Circuit Court has cast doubt on whether casual employment is in fact that: Skene v WorkPac Pty Ltd [2016] FCCA 3035. Mr Skene was employed as a dump truck operator by WorkPac, a labour hire company, which supplies workers to mines. His...
Nevett Ford Melbourne Pty Ltd
ABN: 80 144 697 790
Level 16, South Tower, Rialto Building, 525 Collins Street
Melbourne, VIC 3000