1. Latest decisions Disciplinary meeting attendance a must The Federal Court of Australia has held that failure to attend a disciplinary meeting amounted to repudiation of a dentist’s employment contract. The contract contained a clause to “obey the reasonable...
Employment Law and Workplace Relations Blog
Be Careful of New Employees Bearing Gifts
Two ex-employees of the appellant Lifeplan, a company engaged in the business of fund management and the provision of investment products including funeral bonds and pre-paid funeral products, joined Foresters, another friendly society in late 2010. Foresters’...
HR Toolbox Edition 4 – 2017
1. Latest decisions Here to stay: casual conversion clauses introduced in modern awards The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has found that casual employees on modern awards should be entitled to elect to convert to full-time or part-time employment, subject to certain...
HR Toolbox: Edition 3 – 2017
1. Latest Decisions Breach of Social Media Policy May be Cause for Dismissal The FWC confirms that social media activity may be grounds for termination, if the employer has conducted a full investigation to understand the context of any perceived inappropriate...
HR Toolbox: Edition 2 – 2017
1. Latest Decisions Sunday and public holiday penalty rates slashed! In an historic decision, the Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission has reduced Sunday and public holiday penalty rate structures in awards for the hospitality, retail, fast food and pharmacy...
Slashed!
In an historic decision, the Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission has reduced Sunday and public holiday penalty rate structures in awards for the hospitality, retail, fast food and pharmacy industry, effective from 1 July 2017. In providing its decision, the Full...
Swapping your way out of redundancy
Section 389(2) of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) provides that ‘a person’s dismissal was not a case of genuine redundancy if it would have been reasonable in all the circumstances for the person to be redeployed’. Notwithstanding its decision, the Full Bench confirmed...
HR Toolbox: Edition 1 – 2017
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...
Volunteer Attempts to Claim Unfair Dismissal
The coach and the organisation had entered into a contract in 2015 which was expressed to be a voluntary services agreement. The contract stated that the relationship between the parties to the agreement was not an employment relationship, although the organisation...
Privacy laws and the sale of personal information by businesses
Sale of personal information by businesses Businesses routinely store the personal information of customers and clients. At some stage a business may wish to sell this information. This could be as part of the sale of the business or a separate sale of a client...