1. Upcoming redundancies?
We set out the latest ‘redundancy’ decisions from the Fair Work Commission
- In a recent decision, the Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission held that an employer breached its statutory redeployment obligations by failing to consider ‘job swaps’ with other employees, who wished to accept a redundancy.
To read further about this decision, click to our recent blog here.
- The Fair Work Commission has reinstated four workers after an employer’s “unduly hasty” and “largely tokenistic” redundancy process, which involved no meaningful consultation with its employees and no proper exploration of redeployment options. This decision serves as a timely reminder of the importance of employers complying with their consultation and redeployment obligations.
To read further about this decision, click here.
2. Latest news
- The Fair Work Commission has registered the Fair Work Commission Amendment (Applications for Protected Action Ballot Orders) Rules 2016.These amendments to the Fair Work Commission Rules 2013 are now in effect.
- Form F17 – Employer’s statutory declaration in support of an application for approval of an enterprise agreement (other than a Greenfields agreement) has also incorporated some changes introduced by the Fair Work Amendment (Respect for Emergency Services Volunteers) Act 2016.
- A ‘single enterprise agreement legislative checklist’ has also been released by the Fair Work Commission which may be useful to help understand how Members will assess agreement approval applications.
- The Full Bench is set to review ‘abandonment of employment’ terms in six modern awards, following a recent Full Bench decision, where clause 21 of the Manufacturing and Associated Industries and Occupations Award, which deals with abandonment of employment, was held to not be a term that is permitted or required in a modern award and therefore in accordance with Division 3 of Part 2-3 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), is of no effect.
To read further about this review and the recent Full Bench decision, click on the links below:
4 yearly review of modern awards — Abandonment of employment [2017] FWC 669 (1 February 2017)
3. Useful tools and resources
Fair Work Ombudsman’s Online Learning Centre
Did you know that the Fair Work Ombudsman offers free online courses for employers, managers and professionals?
Current courses offered for employers and managers include:
- Workplace Flexibility,
- Difficult Conversations in the Workplace.
- Managing Performance.
- Diversity and Discrimination.
- Hiring Employees.
If you’re interested in these online courses, register at: http://fairwork.cls.janison.com/auth/register
