In our November 2019 blog, we outlined the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia’s decision on what amounted to a ‘day’ for paid personal/carer’s leave under section 96(1) of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (the FW Act). The Federal Court of Australia Decision The case concerned two employees who worked their contracted […]
In a decision by the Fair Work Commission (the Commission), Deputy President Sams warned against Applicants’ improper use of stop bullying applications “as a deflection, or diversion, or even to overturn a justified disciplinary action”. The detrimental effects of workplace bullying on employees are well known and include decreased productivity, reduced well being, and increased […]
With the 2019 Federal Election looming and the timely Easter public holidays break now passed, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has reiterated his pledge to overrule the independent Fair Work Commission’s by reversing its penalty rates decision. This decision came into effect in 2018 and the current ALP policy proposes to interfere with the decision of […]
Recently, in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (the Tribunal), in Kerkofs v Abdallah (Human Rights) [2019] VCAT 259, Ms Kerkofs (the Applicant) was successful in her sexual harassment claim against Mr Abdallah (the First Respondent), both were employees of Parker Manufactured Products Pty Ltd (the Employer). The Applicant claimed the First Respondent made ongoing […]
This week, during a Senate inquiry in Melbourne on the Fair Work Amendment (Right to Request Casual Conversion) Bill, the unions have continued their campaign for small businesses to be forced to convert casual employees into permanent employees after six months. Exactly one year ago, the Australian Council of Trade Unions called for the right […]
Stop bullying orders under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) are intended to have a wide application, extending beyond employees to ‘workers’ including contractors, volunteers and students gaining work experience. Recently, the Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission in Bibawi v Stepping Stone Clubhouse Inc t/a Stepping Stone [2019] FWCFB 1314 considered whether Bibawi, […]