Mismanagement, misconduct, and misconception – five myths of dismissing employees

By Alex Millman and Lindsay Carroll, NRA Legal The dismissal of an employee is possibly the single most commonly-litigated dispute...

By Alex Millman and Lindsay Carroll, NRA Legal The dismissal of an employee is possibly the single most commonly-litigated dispute between employers and employees. This is hardly surprising, given that dismissal is the most significant action an employer can take with respect to an employee (except, perhaps, hiring them in...

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The fruits of forethought: good planning gives employers victory in Fair Work Commission

By Alex Millman and Lindsay Carroll, NRA Legal All too often, tales from the Fair Work Commission reveal the woes...

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...

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Employee pays ex-employer’s costs after vexatious unfair dismissal claim

By Sooraj Sidhu and Lindsay Carroll, NRA Legal In an unusual case before the Fair Work Commission, an employee has...

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...

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Court confirms employer’s right to direct employees on sick leave

By Alex Millman and Lindsay Carroll, NRA Legal When employees are absent from work on sick leave, employers often have...

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...

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Dismissals: Beyond the Investigation

By Alex Millman and Lindsay Carroll, NRA Legal When an employee has done the wrong thing, it is natural to...

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,...

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Court rejects employee’s $200,000 overtime claim

By Alexander Millman and Lindsay Carroll, NRA Legal The Federal Circuit Court has rejected an Australia Post employee’s claim for...

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...

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Additional Obligations when Making Redundancies

By Sid Sidhu, Workplace Relations Advisor, and Emma Treherne, Principal Workplace Relations Advisor, NRA Legal Are you aware of your...

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...

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Fixed-term employment contracts – Beware of the unfair dismissal risk

By Alex Millman and Justine Ansell, NRA Legal Khayam v Navitas English Pty Ltd FWCFB 5162 Members will recall that...

By Alex Millman and Justine Ansell, NRA Legal Khayam v Navitas English Pty Ltd 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...

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Redundancy and redeployment

By Alex Millman and Troy Wild, NRA Legal Readers may recall our previous article in which we discussed the requirement...

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’...

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Requirement to ‘consult’ in the redundancy process

By Alex Millman, Sid Sidhu and Troy Wild, NRA Legal Restructuring a business often involves making employees redundant. This is...

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...

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End of contract means no dismissal? Maybe not …

By Alex Millman and Angela Szczepanski, NRA Legal Khayam v Navitas English Pty Ltd T/A Navitas English FWCFB 4092 The...

By Alex Millman and Angela Szczepanski, NRA Legal Khayam v Navitas English Pty Ltd T/A Navitas English 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...

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Surveillance in the workplace (and when it goes wrong)

By Alexander Millman and Angela Szczepanski, NRA Legal  Ms Shahin Tavassoli v Bupa Aged Care Mosman A recent case reminds employers...

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...

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2016 Australian Job publication

The Australian Government Department of Employment has published Australian Jobs 2016. The publication presents an overview of the current labour market...

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...

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Modern Awards Update Extended

Following the 4 yearly review of the Modern Awards by the Fair Work Commission, a number of changes have...

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...

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Poor jobseeker treatment affecting profits

First impressions are critical and this goes for employers not just employees. In the age of flexible work arrangements and...

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...

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MEMBER ONLY ARTICLE – The Commission willingly reviews “common issues” in multiple awards

As part of the Modern Award Review currently underway at the Fair Work Commission (FWC), two matters have recently...

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...

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