News
Last week the Queensland Government passed new laws that will change the state’s Workers’ Compensation scheme by introducing some greater responsibilities on employers and insurers, and expanding the scope of coverage for the scheme. The Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2019 (Qld) proposes to adopt a number of recommendations from last year’s five year review of the state’s Workers’ Compensation scheme (see the full report here) by Professor David Peetz, and covers range of areas, including: the limitation period for applying for compensation; psychological and psychiatric injuries; and unpaid internships. In this update, we will unpack…
Read MoreThe Federal Government has offered employers some clarity around recruiting applicants with criminal records, after the Australian Human Rights Commission (‘AHRC’) found that Suncorp discriminated against a job applicant with a record. The Australian Human Rights Commission Regulations 2019 (‘the new regulations’) [1], which commenced on 1 October 2019, have replaced the Australian Human Rights Commission Regulations 1989 (‘the regulations’). The changes are intended to ensure the regulations are in line with modern community expectations. In particular, the new regulations allow employers to exercise “reasonable discretion against prospective employees if their criminal record is relevant to the position being applied…
Read MoreWhether it’s a quarrelsome employee, a serial underperformer, or a casualty of automation, the stress of dismissing an employee doesn’t end on their last day of employment. It’s not until 3 weeks (or 21 days) later, when the time limit to file a dismissal claim with the Fair Work Commission expires can an employer experience some relief. However, the story does not always end here. In some very limited and “exceptional” circumstances, the Fair Work Commission may extend this time limit, sometimes months, and allow a claim to proceed. These circumstances are rarely, if ever, within an employer’s control. …
Read MoreThe concept of redundancy is a reasonably straightforward one – the employer no longer requires the particular job occupied by an individual to be done by anyone. Case closed. The Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FW Act) modifies this by adding that a “genuine redundancy” requires two additional elements: that is was unreasonable to redeploy the employee to another role elsewhere in the business; and that any obligation to consult under a modern award or enterprise agreement was met. The overwhelming majority of cases considering whether a dismissal by way of redundancy was unfair focus on the above two points.…
Read MoreOur favourite Legal Beagles talk about the trials and travails of social media and workplace law, but will they ever learn to get along? Like, comment and subscribe to our National Retail Association YouTube channel to continue supporting Cal and Al!
Read MoreCal and Al are back again, this week taking a look at the issue of swearing at work. What are the consequences of letting out an accidental curse word when you stub your toe, compared to letting loose with a stream of expletives at a colleague? Like, comment and subscribe to our National Retail Association YouTube channel to continue supporting Cal and Al!
Read MoreThe last major study into mental health in Australia by the Australian Bureau of Statistics confirmed that 15% of Australians had experienced an affective disorder like depression, while 26.3% have experienced an anxiety disorder. The increasing awareness of mental health amongst the general population also means that workers are more aware than ever of the potential for their employers to discriminate against them on the basis of these conditions. So what is an employer to do when it comes to mitigating a potential claim against them for disability discrimination? We are going to step through some of the concepts that…
Read MoreIn the current enforcement climate, it is valuable to note a recent case in which the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) was successful in obtaining an increase of fines on appeal to almost five times the initial order, for an underpaying company director. In yet another illustration of how the courts are making an example of companies and accessories involved in underpayments, the appeal of this matter has confirmed the position that multiple contraventions should not be grouped together for the purpose of setting penalties. The original matter involved two now-deregistered Safecorp Security Group companies who were held to have breached…
Read MoreFair Work Commission losing patience over defective workplace investigations By Lucy Harper and Calum Woods, NRA Legal Please note, this decision was quashed by the Full Bench of the Commission on 11 November 2019. The Full Bench found that the Commissioner did not take into account Ms Murphy’s history of domestic violence and associated psychological injuries when deciding whether the dismissal was harsh in the circumstances. In any event, the Full Bench held that there was insufficient evidence of any mental health issues. As such, the outcome was the same and the application was dismissed. The line between employees’ work and personal…
Read More