Employment Law Blog & News
Requesting JobKeeper employees to take annual leave: first FWC decision
In what appears to be the first published decision of the Fair Work Commission utilising its new powers to deal with JobKeeper disputes, the Commission has found against an employee who refused to take a period of annual leave when requested to do so by her employer....
Uber’s contractors are not employees – but what about yours?
In the latest case about workers in the "gig economy", an Uber Eats driver has been found to be an independent contractor, rather than an employee of Uber Eats. (See: Amita Gupta v Portier Pacific Pty Ltd; Uber Australia Pty Ltd t/a Uber Eats) In upholding an earlier...
What if I can’t afford to pay my employees redundancy pay?
It is widely understood that permanent employees who have a requisite period of continuous service are entitled to be paid redundancy pay when made redundant. This is, however, subject to a number of limited exceptions - such as that "small business employers" (ones...
‘Employment Law Playlist’ – Listen now on Spotify
Whilst the world of employment law is rarely a place for humour or… erm… music, especially in the challenging times we are facing, it’s still important to try and have a little fun at work whenever you can. In case you need assistance getting through your working day,...
Unpaid pandemic leave & changes to annual leave in modern awards
Temporary changes to annual leave in modern awards The Fair Work Commission has amended 99 modern awards as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic to introduce entitlements for employees to take: Two weeks of unpaid pandemic leave; and Twice as much annual leave at half...
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...
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