A recent Fair Work Commission (FWC) case has served as a reminder of what employers should not do when they are concerned that an employee can’t fulfil the inherent requirements of their job. Background In Rodney Billett v West Coast Council [2016] FWC 4252, 51 year old Rodney Billet, who had a largely unblemished employment … Read more
The Fair Work Commission (FWC) is required to conduct a 4 Yearly Modern Award Review (Review), and whilst this process is still occurring, the FWC has released a number of key changes as part of its Review which will impact on many major industries such as construction, manufacturing and banking. Whether these key changes have … Read more
UPDATED: CHANGE OF VENUE! We are pleased to say that due to the fantastic interest in the event, we have moved it to a larger venue – the RACV Club. (NB: Same date and time, but just at a different place). Where: RACV Club, Level 2, 501 Bourke St, Melbourne RSVP: To Jonah on 03 … Read more
As you may recall, last year in the Aurizon case the Fair Work Commission overthrew its previous orthodoxy that enterprise agreements were essentially very difficult to terminate in contested applications because the objects of the Fair Work Act almost always made it contrary to the public interest to do so. While at the time many … Read more
Do redundancy and redeployment obligations extend to considering work performed by agency labour workers? Yes they can! The commonly accepted orthodoxy up until 2014 was that only vacant internal positions needed to be considered for the purposes of redeployment opportunities inside the company or an associated entity when establishing the ‘genuine redundancy’ defence to unfair … Read more
Two recent FWC decisions where medical circumstances were advanced by employees in relation to extensions of time for their unfair dismissal applications raise interesting issues, especially given our recent seminar on managing ill, injured and absent employees. In Hickey v Australia Post, following medical retirement by Australia Post, Hickey argued his anxiety, which he said … Read more
The KHQ Workplace Relations Team would love to have you join us on 24 May 2016 to discuss the complexities associated with managing ill, injured and absent employees. With a number of competing legal obligations to balance and manage, this area can present a number of difficulties for human resources professionals and managers. Often, concerns … Read more
One for the back pocket when faced with an argument about “custom and practice” as a barrier to change! If you only read one case this year as we drive our change programs then this is it! (Ok, yes a big call, I’d add in cases like Burke v Suncorp and Jayco Caravans on mental … Read more
WORKPLACE MENTAL HEALTH: Another reason to support, rather than stigmatise, our people who self-report personal issues and seek our help. While not specifically on mental health (but rather as a case concerning a victim of domestic violence it is absolutely analogous), in this recent case the Fair Work Commission found a dismissal to be unfair … Read more
