New anti-bullying policy no defence: same culture, same consequence.
A new anti-bullying policy did not stay the hand of Deputy President Wells of the Fair Work Commission (FWC), who made an order to stop bullying under section 789FC of the Fair Work Act 2009. Bullying means repeated, unreasonable behaviour towards a worker, creating a risk to health and safety (section 789FD). Ms Roberts alleged […]
High Income Threshold and Compensation Cap for Unfair Dismissal Applications – 1 July 2015
The Unfair Dismissal High Income Threshold is $136,700.00 and the maximum amount of compensation that can be awarded is $68,350.00. From 1 July 2015, the High Income Threshold increased from $133,000.00 to $136,700.00. Employees earning more than $136,700.00 cannot make unfair dismissal claims unless they are covered by a modern award or an enterprise agreement. […]
Employer gets access to Employee email and iphone
The Federal Circuit Court has ordered an ex-employee of International Warehousing Distribution Pty Ltd (“International Warehousing”) to submit his personal Gmail account, iPhone and iPad for inspection by an independent specialist to determine whether he misappropriated confidential business information. In coming to this decision, the Court accepted that access to these personal electronic devices was […]
RESTRAINTS OF TRADE IN EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS: KNOW YOUR PRODUCT
If restraints of trade are designed to stop employees from working for a competitor, why do they so often fail in Court? The simple answer is that many employers use generic restraints that fail to account for the specific employer-employee or employer-contractor relationship sought to be protected. The case of Informax International Pty Ltd v […]
Outdated Award Awareness – inefficiency costs $4.8 million
When was the last time you checked the award rate for your employees? For one employer, a review of its pay practices revealed it owed almost $4.8 million to employees for underpaid overtime rates. Overtime Oversight In November 2014, Aged Care Services Australia Group Pty Ltd (ACSAG) undertook a self-initiated review that revealed 4,850 former […]
DISAGREEMENT OR DISMISSAL: ARE DIFFERENT MANAGEMENT STYLES A CAUSE OF CONSTRUCTIVE DISMISSAL?
On 8 July 2014, after yet another disagreement with his employer, Mr Thomas Concannon walked out of work at Portland District Health (PDH). He later filed an unfair dismissal claim with the Fair Work Commission (FWC), arguing that he was effectively dismissed as he had no other option than to resign. However, the FWC disagreed. […]
A $3 MILLION LESSON IN EMPLOYER OBLIGATIONS
Employers beware; not just employees might be bound by company policies! This month, in James v The Royal Bank of Scotland [2015] NSWSC 243 the New South Wales Supreme Court found that a redundancy policy formed part of an employee’s contract of employment, costing the employer close to $3 million for a single redundancy payout. […]
Unfair or Just uncooperative? Dismissal for Unresolved Employee Conflict Was Fair.
Ever had an interpersonal employee conflict that doesn’t end? Where two people despise each other and no matter how you try to resolve the issue they refuse to get along? In a recent case, the full bench of the Fair Work Commission (FWC) found that an employer did not unfairly dismiss an employee after a […]
Workplace Issues in 2015
Peter McNamara reports on what should be key issues this year 1. 2014 “Stop Bullying” Jurisdiction The FWC ‘Stop Bullying’ jurisdiction proved a toothless tiger in 2014, with very few stop bullying orders being made. However the press reporting has made employees are now more aware of their rights, in particular, that that Workers Compensation and […]