News

A former Guard at the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre has won his unfair dismissal case in the Fair Work Commission (FWC) following his sacking for testing positive to alcohol when he was called in to work on a day off.

Continue reading “Beers Before Work Not Grounds for Dismissal”

A martial arts/self-defence instructor has won his unfair dismissal claim in the Fair Work Commission (FWC).

Continue reading “Martial Arts Instructor Wins Unfair Dismissal Claim”

An Audi Service Advisor has won his unfair dismissal claim after the Fair Work Commission (FWC) found a luxury car dealership’s reliance on customer survey scores to measure performance was inappropriate. 

Continue reading “‘Impractical’ Performance Measurement Tool Sinks Audi Dealer in Unfair Dismissal Case”

A family-run smash repair business has been ordered to pay $10,115 in compensation after it was found by the Fair Work Commission (FWC) to have unfairly dismissed an employee for being late to dinner.

Continue reading “Worker Sacked for Being Late for Dinner Gets $10K for Unfair Dismissal”

This legislation was passed by Queensland Parliament on 27 November 2019. Read our latest update here.

Employers are reminded that Queensland Premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, is proposing to amend the Holidays Act 1983 to provide for 6pm – midnight on Christmas Eve to be classified as a gazetted public holiday. Similar provisions for part-day public holidays currently exist in South Australia and the Northern Territory.

In September, the Federal Government announced its intention to commission an independent review of the ‘retirement income system’. The Government says the review, which will look at the three pillars of the existing retirement income system, being the Age Pension, compulsory superannuation and voluntary savings, “will cover the current state of the system and how it will perform in the future as Australians live longer and the population ages”.

In late-October, the Fair Work Commission (FWC) published its Annual Report for the 2018-19 financial year; the Report was also tabled in Parliament. The ‘performance reporting’ section outlined the following results of interest (in brief summary):

After a two year wait, an employee who was sacked by a tavern in far-north Queensland – essentially, because she was pregnant at the time – has been awarded tens of thousands in compensation with the Federal Circuit Court finding there was “no doubt” her dismissal breached the general protections provisions of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act).

A medical receptionist has failed in her bid to convince the Fair Work Commission (FWC) she was constructively dismissed when her employer was unable to grant her exact request for flexible working arrangements, with Commissioner Jennifer Hunt clarifying that employees are not entitled to “demand” particular working hours/days when raising such a request with their employer.