Employment Law Blog & News
Changes to the Miscellaneous Award 2010: Award-free employees may now be award-covered
From 1 July 2020, the "reach" of the Miscellaneous Award 2010 will be significantly extended to cover many employees who were previously deemed to be award-free, following a recent decision of the Fair Work Commission. What is changing? The changes to the...
Coronavirus: Changes to legislation and modern awards
In almost every area of the law, there have been changes to existing rules and procedures to help deal with the coronavirus pandemic. This is especially true of the employment law sphere, and we set out below some of the key changes to legislation and modern awards...
Unfair dismissal despite evident misconduct found
A recent case before the Fair Work Commission concerned the dismissal of an employee from his role with Safety Barrier Solutions (SBS) on 23 September 2019 for alleged workplace misconduct. The employee then filed an application for unfair dismissal which came to...
Pregnant waitress sent home: restaurant in violation of FW Act
The general protections provisions of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) ('the FW Act') "protects employees and prospective employees from adverse action by their employer or prospective employer". Specifically, Section 351 prohibits employers from taking adverse action...
Changes to the Retail Industry Award effective 1 March 2020
The Fair Work Commission has made amendments to the Retail Industry Award that will see initial changes come into effect on 1 March 2020, with further amendments being rolled out later in the year and again in 2021. These revisions will affect both casual and...
Failure to follow redundancy process renders dismissal unfair
A recent case in the Fair Work Commission highlighted the importance of following the proper process when making redundancies. The case of Jody Tuchin v Mills Brands [2020] FWC 583 (7 January 2020) concerned the decision of Mills Brands to make one of its customer...
Employer allowed to rely on employee’s social media posts to defeat claim
In Mandy Lee Baillie v PJDH Pty Ltd t/a Brazilian Beauty Fairfield, an employer was able to rely on social media posts from a former employee to defeat her “general protections” claim. The case concerned a claim against Brazillian Beauty Fairfield by beauty therapist,...
Changes to Employment Law in 2020
The last few years have been a tumultuous time in the world of Australian employment law. We saw "casual" employees being found to be permanent in Workpac v Skeene, and anti-double-dipping legislation rushed through to attempt to deal with the fall-out for businesses...
Victorian Labour Hire Licence Applications – Deadline Extended
In our previous blog article we explained that in order to provide labour hire services in Victoria, a licence is now required. The Victorian Labour Hire Authority have now announced an extension of time for applications to be submitted: Providers who submit a...
Israel Folau: Some ordinary lessons from an extraordinary case
Although Israel Folau’s case against Rugby Australia and the NSW Waratahs is extraordinary on a number of levels - his job, his fame, the value of his claim, etc - the case illustrates some very ordinary concepts in employment law. Had the case been resolved by the...
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