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Fair Work Australia

Unfair dismissal – Childcare responsibilities were not a valid reason for failing to comply with Fair Work Commission directions

Mr Praveen Samuel lodged an unfair dismissal application with the Fair Work Commission (the Commission). He failed to respond to correspondence from the Commission by the deadline imposed and his application was dismissed. He sought leave to appeal the decision. The appeal was dismissed on the grounds that there would be no public interest in …
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Categories Employment, Litigation & Dispute Resolution Tags Appeal, Childcare Responsibilities, Directions, Dismissal, Employee, Employee Termination, Employees, Fair Work, Fair Work Australia, Fair Work Commission, Fair Work Ombudsman, termination, Unfair dismissal

Unfair dismissal – Can unauthorised annual leave reduce the minimum employment period?

Mr Calleja was employed as a full-time spring maker until his employment was terminated by his employer in March 2021. Mr Calleja subsequently made an unfair dismissal claim. The former employer raised multiple defences to Mr Calleja’s claim, one of which was that Mr Calleja had not been employed for long enough to make an …
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Categories Employment, Litigation & Dispute Resolution Tags Employee, Employee Entitlements, Employee Termination, Entitlements, Fair Work, Fair Work Australia, Fair Work Commission, Fair Work Ombudsman, Leave Calculations, Leave Entitlements, Probation, termination

Workplace Meme Culture: Satire Not Grounds for Dismissal says FWC

The internet has been an area of controversy in employment law for a number of years. Many late-night rants and political outbursts have been the subject of unfair dismissal proceedings. What we post on social media can easily be viewed by our employers. It often has a direct bearing on our employment when content is …
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Categories Employment Tags Code of Conduct, Employee Obligations, Employment, Employment Law, Fair Work Australia, Fair Work Commission, Internet, Meme Culture, Social Media, Unfair dismissal, Workplace Investigation

Doors open to casual worker leave entitlements following landmark court ruling

Recently, the Federal Court handed down its highly-anticipated employment decision in WorkPac Pty Ltd v Rossato [2020] FCAFC 84. The decision concerned an employee of the labour-hire company known as WorkPac. The employee had been employed by WorkPac through a number of consecutive casual employment agreements for mining projects in Queensland. The employee entered into …
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Categories Employment Tags Casual, Casual Employee, Casual Workers, Employment, Fair Work Australia, Fair Work Commission, Federal Court, Leave Entitlements

Fair Work implements additional measures to protect Modern Awards in light of COVID-19

The Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission (FWC) have determined by hearing on 8 April 2020 to amend modern awards to accommodate for the COVID-19 pandemic. This comes following the provisional views of the FWC released at the start of the month detailing their views on the impact of COVID-19 on employment arrangements. What …
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Categories Employment Tags COVID-19, Fair Work Australia, Fair Work Commission, Modern Awards, Pandemic

Five new powers of employers

The five new powers of employers Employers who qualify for the JobKeeper Scheme (a JobKeeper employer) now have the ability to take certain actions when their employees cannot be usefully employed due to COVID-19. This includes: standing down employees; reducing employees’ hours of work; directing employees to undertake certain duties, which may differ from their …
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Categories Employment Tags COVID-19, Employee Entitlements, Employees, employers, Fair Work Australia, Fair Work Commission, Training

Changes to Annualised Salaries under Modern Awards

From 1 March 2020, the Fair Work Commission has introduced new requirements for the payment of Annualised Salaries under Modern Awards. These changes will increase the obligations on all employers who pay their employees an annualised salary under a relevant Modern Award. These changes impact on any additional hours an employee works, and how they …
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Categories Employment Tags Employee Entitlements, Fair Work Australia, Modern Awards, Payroll, Salary
Open hand welcoming

What can my employer do with my fingerprints?

A closer look at biometric data in the workplace A recent decision of the Fair Work Commission (FWC) has provided some insight into the collection and use of sensitive information in the workplace. In the case of Jeremy Lee v Superior Wood Pty Ltd [2019] FWCFB 2946, the FWC found that it was unfair for an …
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Categories Employment, Privacy Tags Disclosure Notice, Employee Privacy, Fair Work Australia, Fair Work Commission, Informed Consent, Litigation & Dispute Resolution, Personal Data, Workplace Surveillance
mug, glasses and tissues

What’s in a day? The Federal Court rules on personal leave accruals

On 21 August 2019, the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia considered an alleged inconsistency between the National Employment Standards (NES) and an Enterprise Agreement related to the accrual of personal/carer’s leave. Mondelez Australia Pty Ltd (Mondelez) operates food manufacturing plants across Australia and is a national system employer. Mondelez entered into an …
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Categories Employment Tags Employee Entitlements, Enterprise Agreement, Fair Work Australia, Fair Work Commission, Leave Entitlements, National Employment Standards, Personal Carers Leave

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