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 […]
Written by Calum Woods and Lindsay Carroll, NRA Legal In a recent application for relief from unfair dismissal, Commissioner Cribb considered circumstances where an employee requested changes to her working arrangements, and then resigned her employment when the employer was unable to accommodate those changes. The employee argued that she was forced to resign her […]
By Sooraj Sidhu, NRA Legal You might have heard in recent months the term ‘gig economy’ being thrown around by politicians, lawyers and leaders in workplace relations. The term, which has become buzzword of the century, refers to the burgeoning number of workers engaged in short-term or temporary positions, either through labour-hire, independent contractor or […]
By Sooraj Sidhu and Lindsay Carroll, NRA Legal Yesterday, the Fair Work Commission’s (FWC) president Iain Ross responded to reports commissioned last year, which urged the establishment of a ‘Small Business Division’ of the Fair Work Commission and the reduction of red tape associated with unfair dismissal and adverse action claims. The news comes following […]
By Victoria Hansen and Lindsay Carroll, NRA Legal The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has ruled that a worker who threw a full glass of beer over the heads of his colleagues at an official company Christmas party was justifiably dismissed. This is a significant decision regarding the dismissal of employees for out-of-hours conduct. Sione Vai […]
By Lindsay Carroll, Director and Sid Sidhu, Workplace Relations Advisor, NRA Legal Earlier in 2017, the Fair Work Commission (‘FWC’) determined that the City of Sydney RSL and Community Club had constructively dismissed a casual employee, when it denied the employee from working further “change box” shifts and reduced her average weekly hours by 75 […]
Fair Work Commission to scrutinise “loaded rates” of pay within Enterprise Agreements By Sid Sidhu, NRA Legal Following the recent win for retailers and the Federal Court’s decision to uphold the penalty rate cuts across five Modern Awards, the Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission (FWC) has invited peak union and employer groups to […]
The reporting over the past week on the penalty rates case has been fascinating to say the least. In many ways, it has illustrated how deeply Australian’s misconceptions have been about the issue, but more importantly, how easy it has been for those with a vested interest to heighten those misconceptions to erode the country’s […]
On Tuesday 5 September 2017, the Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Vulnerable Workers) Bill 2017 was passed with amendments by both houses of Parliament. The Bill was given Royal Assent by the Governor-General on 14 September 2017, becoming an Act (the VW Act) which will re-write parts of the Fair Work Act 2009 (FW Act). In brief, the VW Act: […]
By Alex Millman and Troy Wild, NRA Legal In mid-July this year, the Fair Work Commission heard an application by the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association to include provision for paid blood donor leave in the retail, fast food, and hair and beauty awards. NRA, along with other industry groups, opposed the application, arguing […]
Written by Alex Millman Members will recall from previous news alerts that there are several pieces of legislation amending the Fair Work Act currently waiting for the attention of the Senate before they can become law. Foremost among these is the Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Vulnerable Workers) Bill 2017, which aims to make franchisors and […]
by Sid Sidhu and Troy Wild Ashley Duddington v Mario and Clara Enterprises Pty Ltd and Morgan Trading Pty Ltd [2017] FWC 2958 Small business employers (employing less than 15 employees) are reminded by a recent case before the Fair Work Commission (FWC) to use the Small Business Dismissal Code (the Code) when terminating employees. […]
by Sid Sidhu and Angela Szczepanski, NRA Legal Teresa Margaret Murphy v Banana Coast Community Credit Union Ltd T/A BCU [2017] FWC 2688 An employee who worked as a store supervisor for Banana Coast Community Credit Union (BCU) has had her application for relief from unfair dismissal, dismissed by the Fair Work Commission (FWC). The […]
Today, as the last order of business, Parliament will resume debate of the Fair Work Amendment (Repeal of 4 Yearly Review and Other Measures) Bill 2017 (Review Bill). With the Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Vulnerable Workers) Bill 2017 (Vulnerable Workers Bill) attracting a lot of attention, the Review Bill has substantially flown under the radar. […]
The Fair Work Commission has made two important decisions affecting retailers in the last 24 hours, and it’s worth considering how commentators and elected officials respond to each one. The first issue, yesterday, was the Commission’s announcement on the timing of the adjustment of Sunday penalty rates. Your feedback to us has been that retailers […]
by Sid Sidhu and Troy Wild, NRA legal Case study: Laura Wrzoskiewicz v Easy Payroll Perth Pty Ltd [2017] FWC 2469 A recent case before the Fair Work Commission highlights the meaning of “genuine redundancy” and when an employee will be unable to substantiate an unfair dismissal claim. In this case, a payroll officer who […]
by Alex Millman and Troy Wild, NRA Legal As a business, there is a great temptation that when faced with litigation to stick with what you know. Doubtless you will have engaged external lawyers before. Maybe they helped get the lease of your shop up and running, maybe they advised on your corporate structure, but […]
Written by Alex Millman and Troy Wild, NRA Legal After rigorous action by the Shop, Distributive and Applied Employees Association (SDA), bakery chain Beechworth Bakery has had the approval of its enterprise bargaining agreement in December 2016 overturned by a decision of the Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission. Throughout the approval process Deputy President […]
This week saw the successful launch of the National Retail Association’s State of the Retail Nation forums, proudly sponsored by REST Industry Super. Retailers from across multiple sectors met to hear from industry professionals and to share insight at breakfast briefings in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney, plus an online webinar. NRA CEO Dominique Lamb led the […]
In everything that your association does for the retail industry, we have the interests of our members, and all retailers, as our top priority. This has been particularly true throughout the Fair Work Commission hearings in relation to Sunday penalty rates, and it remains true as that issue continues towards its conclusion. First we listen […]