Procedural Background Section 389(2) of the Fair Work Act 2009 (FW Act) provides that a person is not unfairly dismissed if their dismissal was a genuine redundancy. A redundancy is not genuine if it would have been reasonable in all the circumstances for the...
The email was sent in support of a colleague with terminal cancer and included a link to buy charity t-shirts, an initiative that Ms Callow organised and personally funded with over $1,000. However, the email was flagged by the company as a breach of its privacy...
In Frost v Ambulance Victoria [2025] FWCFB 94, the Full Bench overturned a decision that equated bullying conduct and serious misconduct, highlighting the need for a proper assessment of the seriousness of the specific conduct within its context, including the...
A recent Fair Work Commission case Aoyama v FLSA Holdings Pty Ltd (C2024/8591) provides guidance on what the Fair Work Commission considers when arbitrating a dispute arising from a refusal to grant a flexible working request and making an assessment as to whether...
This is a significant decision in this area, as the Court set aside the orders of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Victoria (Court of Appeal), affirming the decision of the primary judge in the Supreme Court of Victoria (Supreme Court), that the Appellant...
This is currently the third decision in this area, since damaging action was introduced into the Industrial Relations Act 1979 (WA) (IR Act) on 20 June 2022. These protections were based on some of the general protections found in Part 3-1 of the Fair Work Act 2009...
Legislative background The Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes No. 2) Act 2024 (Cth) (Amending Act) introduces the new ‘right to disconnect’ into the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FW Act). The right to disconnect provisions commence on 26 August 2024 but do...
The full Amending Act can be found here. ‘New’ Test for Characterising Employment Relationship One significant change, due to commence on 26 August 2024, is the addition of section 15AA to the FW Act. Section 15AA will provide a statutory test for determining whether...
In this matter, the part-time employee (Applicant) had submitted a formal Flexible Work Arrangement request to his employer, FedEx (Respondent), that he be allowed to work from home 100% of the time (four days per week). The request was based on the fact Mr Ridings...
On 12 June 2024, a Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission (the Full Bench) made the first intractable bargaining workplace determination. In summary, section 269 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the FW Act) provides that a Full Bench must make in intractable bargaining...