Featured – The Age, Prevention key to better industrial relations.
Featured The Age 19th April 2018
Read More →But I was drunk, your Honour! Full Bench reinstates employee who intimidated and seriously threatened co-workers, after drawing an inference that a combination of depression, medication and alcohol caused the ‘one-off’ behaviour.
By Lauren Townsend (Special Counsel) The hard-fought Fair Work Commission (FWC) unfair dismissal dispute between Matthew Gosek and Illawarra Coal Holdings Pty Ltd T/A South32 came to an end last week [1], with the majority of the Full Bench deciding that although Illawarra Coal dismissed Mr Gosek for a valid reason, mitigating factors tipped the […]
Read More →Commission Full Bench decision in Fitzgerald v Woolworths Limited – What it decided and error in its reasoning
By Bryan Mueller, Director of Workplace Litigation In Fitzgerald v Woolworths Limited [2017] FWCFB 2797 (Fitzgerald decision) a Full Bench of the Commission examined the meaning and effect of s.596(1) of the Fair Work Act 2009(FW Act). Speaking broadly, that provision deals with the representation of persons who or which are involved in Commission […]
Read More →ALERT: Post termination restraints unenforceable where termination by employer’s repudiation
The Victorian Court of Appeal has affirmed that post termination restraints in an employment contract were unenforceable because the employment termination occurred by reason of the employer’s repudiation of employment contract and the employee’s acceptance of that repudiation: Crowe Horwath (Aust) Pty Ltd v Loone [2017] VSCA 181 The decision of the trial judge, Justice […]
Read More →ALERT: The right place at the right time: FWC effectively injuncts employer from sacking a worker who made an anti-bullying application
In a first of its kind decision in the Fair Work Commission’s (FWC) anti-bullying jurisdiction, the FWC has issued an Interim Order preventing an employer from finalising disciplinary proceedings against, and terminating the employment of, a senior executive pending the outcome of her substantive anti-bullying application. Lauren Townsend examines the decision and what this means for […]
Read More →ALERT: Post employment termination restraints – enforceability where termination occurs by reason of Employer’s repudiatory conduct
A very recent decision of McDonald J in the Victorian Supreme Court (Crowe Horwath (Aust) Pty Ltd v Loone [2017] VSC 163, 4 April 2017) deserves the attention of anyone who deals with issues relating to post termination restraints in employment, whether that be in the formulation of contractual clauses on that subject, or the […]
Read More →Important Full Federal Court Decision: Directions to Attend Medical Examinations and Self-Incrimination Privilege
By Angus Mackenzie, Lawyer It is broadly accepted that an employer can direct an employee to attend medical examinations and to answer questions as part of workplace investigations, so long as the direction is lawful and reasonable. Indeed, the idea that an employee can refuse to respond to his or her employer’s reasonable requests for information […]
Read More →Enterprise Agreement Approval Requirements – Developments in the Tangled Thicket
What Employers Need to Know By Lauren Townsend, Special Counsel The requirements that have to be met to achieve approval of an enterprise agreement from the Fair Work Commission (FWC) are many. 2016 and the early months of 2017 have seen a number of developments in this area, and they have brought into high relief […]
Read More →Workplace Investigations: Why Do You Need a Workplace Specialist?
By Angus Mackenzie There is a large and growing market for employers seeking external providers of workplace investigations. Unlike in other jurisdictions, the market for providers of workplace investigations is not regulated in Australia. As a consequence, these services are provided by variously skilled persons, including criminal lawyers, generalist lawyers, HR consultants, former police officers […]
Read More →Commission Dispute Settlement: Federal Court Challenges Not Available?
Wait A Minute Blog Series By Bryan Mueller, Director Workplace Litigation Commission Dispute Settlement: Federal Court Challenges Not Available? Wait a minute: Are you saying that no matter how far wrong the Commission goes in giving an arbitrated decision under enterprise agreement dispute settlement provisions, the Commission’s decision can’t be challenged anywhere? Is that really […]
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