Employment and Migration Blog

When the harmonised legislation replaced the 2000 NSW OH&S Act, and the District Court was given jurisdiction to deal with prosecutions instead of the Industrial Relations Commission, there was speculation that this may change the approach to assessing defences raised by an employer. In a recent decision, this indeed seems to have happened.

Another of the top 10 from Booth's 101 Rules for avoiding unfair dismissal is " Redundancy is not a panacea ". This colourful story comes from a Qld discrimination case last month (Webb v Lightfoot) rather than unfair dismissal, but the principle is the same. Lightfoot ran a scaffolding business which employed Webb. When Webb had a back injury (reading between the lines, it seems Lightfoot doubted this), claimed workers comp, and sought light duties, Lightfoot ignored him. Webb persisted in seeking light duties. Lightfoot's reaction was: