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The Fair Work Commission (Commission) recently ruled in favour of an employer who dismissed a highly intoxicated worker for harassment and sexual harassment at an offsite location, in a decision that reinforces that conduct outside of the workplace may still have a sufficient connection to employment, and therefore be subject to disciplinary action. Case Overview In this case, a female FIFO technician arrived at Brisbane airport to fly to her scheduled shift at a central Queensland mine site and was reportedly “extremely intoxicated.” While waiting for her flight the technician went to the airport lounge and ordered two more alcoholic…

While other industries prepare to wind down for the year, things are only just starting to heat up for retailers across Australia. As the festive season fast approaches, managers are encouraged to plan their rosters in advance to ensure their stores are adequately staffed to meet increased customer demand over the Christmas peak trade period. In this article, we discuss the top three legal factors that managers, and HR professionals, should be mindful of when rostering employees across Christmas and New Year. Temporary Closures Like many modern awards, the General Retail Industry Award 2020 (Retail Award) contains provisions which dictate…

A Commonwealth Bank (CBA) employee who was terminated for sending abusive text messages to his manager has been unsuccessful in claiming that his termination was unfair because the text messages were sent outside of working hours. Background The manager received more than 50 messages from the employee in the early hours of the morning and late at night over 6 days in November and December 2024. Initially, the manager dismissed the texts and said that she had “not taken anything personal” and was “fine” to keep working with the employee. However, as the messages became more aggressive the manager explicitly…

Have you considered what your business would do if you faced an unfair dismissal or general protections claim? Would you attempt to defend the claim on your own, or opt to seek expert legal assistance? It can be tempting to defend a claim without help, with the hope of cutting costs or ‘sticking it’ to the employee directly. However, self-represented employers often find themselves overwhelmed by the process of the Fair Work Commission (Commission) and face subsequent difficulties in successfully presenting and winning their case. In this article, we will explore the common mistakes made by self-represented employers in the…

Significant changes have commenced as of 26 August 2024, following amendments made to the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (Act) by the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes No. 2) Act 2024. Two of the most pressing changes for employers are the introduction of the right to disconnect, and changes to casual employment. What is the right to disconnect? Before considering what the right to disconnect is, it may firstly be helpful to outline what the right to disconnect is not. The right to disconnect does not prevent employers from contacting their employees outside of the employee’s normal working hours.…

In a decision confirming the strict application of filing deadlines in the Fair Work Commission (Commission), a worker has had her general protections claim rejected for filing her application at 12:01am on 1 May 2024, just 1 minute after the deadline of midnight on 30 April 2024. Background to the case In February 2024, whilst employed at a liquor retailer, the worker had interacted with a suspected shoplifter. The company’s policy is for employees not to engage with suspected shoplifters, and following this incident the worker received coaching regarding the policy. The employer found that the worker again breached this…