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Posted by
Shanni Zoeller
on 18 Nov 2020
In our latest Employment Law Blog, Lawyer Shanni Zoeller outlines the case of Ray v Priority ERP Pty Ltd, which was a disastrous example of a personal and employment relationship breakdown.
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Posted by
Shanni Zoeller
on 17 Jul 2020
Recent audits revealed that 94 employees across three Hero Sushi franchise stores were underpaid. In our latest Employment Blog, Lawyer Shanni Zoeller outlines the severe penalties and ramifications of producing false records to the Fair Work Ombudsman.
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Posted by
Shawn Skyring
on 13 Jul 2020
In our latest Employment Blog, Principal Lawyer Shawn Skyring outlines the significant changes that have been made to the Miscellaneous Award 2020, which employers should be aware of.
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Posted by
Shawn Skyring
on 29 Jun 2020
The national minimum wage rate and minimum modern award wages for the new financial year will come into effect from 1 July 2020.
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Posted by
Anna Ford
on 7 May 2020
In our latest Employment Law Blog, Senior Associate Anna Ford discusses a recent case where the Fair Work Commission (FWC) dismissed an Uber Eats Driver’s appeal in a pursual for unfair dismissal as she was labelled “not an employee”.
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Posted by
Anna Ford
on 2 Mar 2020
You may find yourself on dangerous ground if you try to force an employee to sign a deed following their termination. In our latest Employment Blog, Senior Associate Anna Ford outlines what the Fair Work Commission considers to be forced when it comes to employees signing Deeds.
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Posted by
Shanni Zoeller
on 21 Jan 2020
Have you ever wondered if you can stand in the shoes of a deceased applicant and continue their unfair dismissal proceedings on their behalf? In our latest Employment blog, Lawyer Shanni Zoeller addresses this very question.
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Posted by
Anna Ford
on 7 Nov 2019
Employers’ should be aware of the upcoming changes to the annualised salary arrangements which will take effect from the 1 March 2020 and affect multiple industries. Senior Associate Anna Ford, outlines the key changes, off-set clauses and common law contracts.
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Posted by
Shanni Zoeller
on 22 Oct 2019
It should go without saying that employees should apply for leave and have it approved by their employer before booking any flights, accommodation, tours or activities. But what happens if the employee takes time off anyway? Lawyer Shanni Zoeller has written about Central Milk Supplies terminating Mr. Innes’s employment for this very reason.
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Posted by
Shanni Zoeller
on 2 Aug 2019
In the unfair dismissal jurisdiction, an employee has 21 days after a dismissal has taken effect to lodge their application with the Fair Work Commission. However, the Commission has the discretion to grant an extension of time if it’s satisfied that “exceptional circumstances” exist.
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Posted by
Shanni Zoeller
on 6 May 2019
Within the context of traditional worker categories, it is uncertain whether either employment or independent contracting rules should apply to those known colloquially as 'gig-economy', or 'platform' workers, or whether an entirely new category (or group of categories) should be introduced.
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Posted by
Shanni Zoeller
on 13 Mar 2019
Although an aggrieved employee is entitled to pursue their rights to the fullest extent permitted under law, employees on their way out can sometimes be motivated to inflict as much pain and suffering on a business, and those who represent it, as possible. This article answers the question 'to what extent can an employee pursue a claim when it either lacks merit, or is vexatious and has been lodged purely to spite the employer?'.
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Posted by
Lisa Qiu
on 22 Feb 2019
The Fair Work Commission recently made a significant decision pertaining to requests for flexible work arrangements. Since 1 December 2018, the right to request flexible arrangements has been supported by a new modern award clause providing more structure around the process. The new clause imposes an obligation on employers to discuss the request with the employee and genuinely try to reach an agreement, before making a decision about whether to grant or refuse the request.
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Posted by
Lisa Qiu
on 11 Dec 2018
In the past few months, there has been a flurry of activity, discussion and legal changes in relation to casual employees. If you have "casual" employees working on a regular and systematic basis, they may in fact actually be permanent employees entitled to annual leave and other entitlements. This means you may have a substantial back pay issue.
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Posted by
Stephen Booth
on 13 Aug 2018
Changes to all modern awards, which have introduced provisions relating to family and domestic violence leave, came into effect from 1 August 2018. This change has come about due to the 4 yearly review of modern awards.
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Posted by
Anna Ford
on 1 Jun 2018
When an employee notifies his / her employer that they wish to terminate their employment, their employment will automatically terminate when the relevant notice period expires. What happens when an employee wishes to withdraw their resignation?
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Posted by
Anna Ford
on 9 Mar 2018
To successfully defend an unfair dismissal claim, an employer must be able to satisfy the Fair Work Commission (FWC) that the dismissal was not harsh, unjust or unreasonable.
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Posted by
Stephen Booth
on 29 Jan 2018
The tension between traditional employment law frameworks and the gig economy has come to the fore once again after the Fair Work Commission holds that an Uber driver is not an employee.
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Posted by
Stephen Booth
on 12 Jan 2018
In a recent case, the FWC granted its first interim order issued in its anti-bullying jurisdiction, effectively issuing an injunction to stop an employer from proceeding with a workplace investigation. This case demonstrates that dealing with a bullying complaint in a fair way is highly desirable to avoiding external intervention.
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Posted by
Lisa Qiu
on 24 Aug 2017
The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has made a decision to insert a 'casual conversion' clause into 85 modern awards that do not already have such a provision. This will enable casual employees covered by those awards, and who meet the eligibility criteria, to request to convert to fulltime or part-time employment.
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Posted by
Stephen Booth
on 13 Jul 2015
A text message can so easily be sent to the wrong person…with potentially disastrous consequences. In the recent decision of Nesbitt v Dragon Mountain Gold, the Fair Work Commission upheld the dismissal of an employee who had accidentally sent a text message to her General Manager.
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Posted by
Stephen Booth
on 11 Jun 2015
The Fair Work Commission has announced the changes which will apply to the National Minimum Wage and modern award wage rates from 1 July, 2015. The National Minimum Wage will increase 2.5% to $656.90 or $17.29 an hour. That rate of increases will also apply across award rates.
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Posted by
Anna Ford
on 13 Mar 2015
For those of us working in HR, it is really important that we are clear on what constitutes bullying and in what circumstances the Fair Work bullying provisions apply, so that we can clearly articulate that to our employees.
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Posted by
Anna Ford
on 26 Feb 2015
The Fair Work Commission held that an anti-Muslim email that vilified those of the Muslim faith and sought to motivate readers to take political action against them, had significant potential to damage an employer’s reputation and therefore provided a valid reason to dismiss the employee.
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Posted by
Anna Ford
on 29 Jan 2015
In a matter before the Fair Work Commission late last year it ruled that the termination of one of two workers involved in an entrenched workplace conflict was not unfair simply because the employer could have chosen to sack the other employee.
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Posted by
Anna Ford
on 15 Oct 2014
The Fair Work Commission has ruled that a mechanic who mislead his employer about his qualifications in a job interview was justified in terminating his employment for, among other things, failing to fulfil the inherent requirements of the job.
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Posted by
Stephen Booth
on 17 Mar 2014
By 27 February, the Fair Work Commission had received 66 anti-bullying applications, and a member of the Fair Work Commission, Commissioner Cribb has said that they have the following features.
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Posted by
Stephen Booth
on 28 Feb 2014
Someone asked me this at a presentation on the new bullying laws last week. And the answer is “No.” In the seven weeks since the Fair Work Commission opened shop for bullying complaints, I haven’t yet had one framed in terms of the new legislation. That’s not to say they aren’t around: Fair Work Commission reported receiving 44 applications in January, which was under the estimate of 70 a month, but still a tidy number for a month when much of the country is still in holiday mode.
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Posted by
Anna Ford
on 4 Nov 2013
The dismissal of an employee who misused his employer’s computer system has been deemed ‘not harsh or unjust’ and has been held to amount to serious misconduct.
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Posted by
Anna Ford
on 9 Sep 2013
In Canberra recently, an interior designer was fired from his day job at a design firm after his employer discovered he was using his LinkedIn page to promote the imminent growth of his personal business to a “full-time design company.” The employee had sent a group email to his connections on LinkedIn, including current clients of the company he worked for, offering his services in a personal capacity.