By Alex Millman and Lindsay Carroll, NRA Legal All too often, tales from the Fair Work Commission reveal the woes of what happens when employers are too trigger-happy in sacking their employees. When employers lose unfair dismissal claims, it is usually because they have jumped the gun and dismissed the employee without: gathering sufficient evidence […]
By Sooraj Sidhu and Lindsay Carroll, NRA Legal In an unusual case before the Fair Work Commission, an employee has been ordered to pay indemnity costs after finding that she continued to press an unfair dismissal application that was “doomed to fail”. Ordinarily, parties to a claim before the Fair Work Commission will bear their […]
By Alex Millman and Lindsay Carroll, NRA Legal When employees are absent from work on sick leave, employers often have to walk a narrow line between the lawful and the unlawful. On the one hand, the employee has the right to be absent on sick leave, and interfering with that right can land you on […]
By Alex Millman and Lindsay Carroll, NRA Legal When an employee has done the wrong thing, it is natural to feel aggrieved. However put-out you may be, you must always remember to step back from the situation and be objective when responding to misconduct in your business and if appropriate, determining a disciplinary outcome. It […]
By Alexander Millman and Lindsay Carroll, NRA Legal The Federal Circuit Court has rejected an Australia Post employee’s claim for almost $200,000 of unpaid entitlements, which he alleged he had accrued by working two jobs for his employer at the same time. Judge McNab held that the two jobs were separate and distinct. Lacson v […]
By Sid Sidhu, Workplace Relations Advisor, and Emma Treherne, Principal Workplace Relations Advisor, NRA Legal Are you aware of your obligations when making 15 or more staff redundant? Employers looking to dismiss 15 or more employees by way of redundancy are required to carry out additional obligations under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth). Prior […]
By Alex Millman and Justine Ansell, NRA Legal Khayam v Navitas English Pty Ltd [2017] FWCFB 5162 Members will recall that earlier this year the Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission foreshadowed that it would re-evaluate how the Commission approached fixed-term contracts in unfair dismissal cases, namely whether a contract ‘expiring’ meant that the […]
By Alex Millman and Troy Wild, NRA Legal Readers may recall our previous article in which we discussed the requirement on employers to consult with their employees when undertaking a business restructure (see article here). In that article we identified that of the three matters that make up a ‘genuine redundancy’ under the Fair Work […]
By Alex Millman, Sid Sidhu and Troy Wild, NRA Legal Restructuring a business often involves making employees redundant. This is an unfortunate but logical truth. There is a natural tension between the freedom for businesses to be able to structure their operations in the most effective manner possible, and the need for workers to have […]
By Alex Millman and Angela Szczepanski, NRA Legal Khayam v Navitas English Pty Ltd T/A Navitas English [2017] FWCFB 4092 The Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission has granted a teacher leave to appeal against the decision dismissing his unfair dismissal application, challenging long-established precedent claiming that his employment was not truly brought to […]
By Alexander Millman and Angela Szczepanski, NRA Legal Ms Shahin Tavassoli v Bupa Aged Care Mosman A recent case reminds employers that care must be taken when relying on evidence obtained from workplace surveillance to dismiss an employee, and the need to afford employees procedural fairness even when it appears to be an open-and-shut case. […]
Written by Ben Desir and Troy Wild, NRA Legal Jia Ning Wang, owner and operator of the Fire and Stone Restaurant, has been received a $20,366 penalty, and his company Golden Vision Food and Beverage Services Pty Ltd has been penalised an additional $51,830 after it was found that he deliberately exploited young international students. […]
The Australian Government Department of Employment has published Australian Jobs 2016. The publication presents an overview of the current labour market and highlights the major changes which have occurred, including for industries and occupations. It is designed to meet the needs of a range of users, and there is a regional analysis of employment for all […]
Following the 4 yearly review of the Modern Awards by the Fair Work Commission, a number of changes have been introduced to ensure consistency around annual leave provisions. The affected awards include: General Retail Industry Award 2010 Fast Food Industry Award 2010 Restaurant Industry Award 2010 Clerks Private Sector Award 2010 Hair and Beauty Industry […]
First impressions are critical and this goes for employers not just employees. In the age of flexible work arrangements and millennials who change jobs nearly as often as they change their iPhone’s, it’s important companies are making a good impression to potential candidates as they are vetting you just as much as you are vetting […]
As part of the Modern Award Review currently underway at the Fair Work Commission (FWC), two matters have recently been highlighted as “common issues” following multiple applications to alter several awards. The applications relating to provisions that regulate payment of wages and annualised salary provisions have each been grouped and will be considered as common […]
The Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) declared the Director of security company ‘Step Ahead Security Services’ had deliberately underpaid eight casual employees hired as security guards by over $20,000 over a three-month period. The Director was ordered to personally repay the employees as well as paying penalties of over $50,000 with the FWO hailing this case […]
Language in the workplace, especially between colleagues and team members, performs an important role in determining what is acceptable behaviour, and ultimately, what the broader workplace environment looks like. In many workplaces, it is unfortunate that condescending and patronising language can be an all-too-frequent occurrence. In many instances, a capable and competent team member will […]
Are you truly maximising the shoppers who come into your store? We hate to say it, but probably not. So many retailers today are getting distracted by the process of attracting new customers through marketing and promotion that they are forgetting to invest in the vital process of converting the sale and developing a loyal […]
The role of a store associate in the retail environment has never been more important as it is today. In this digital era, where shoppers have constant and immediate access to all kinds of product information, it is your staff who have the power to add real value when engaging with your customers face to […]