HR Central

A doctor has won $20,000 in compensation after the hospital he was working for failed to give him clear and adequate notice of his termination. The doctor was employed by Frankston Hospital in Victoria on a five-year fixed term contract which expired in early November 2014. Following this expiry, the doctor continued to work and perform his normal duties. However, hospital management failed to clearly inform him of his termination until the end of January 2015, giving him only one months notice. Under the Victorian Publi

The Fair Work Commission recently found that Qantas did not unfairly terminate an employee for giving away discounted international airfares. Qantas argued that the employee had breached company policy. The FWC agreed that the employee had been made aware of the relevant company policies, and had been provided with a letter outlining the allegations and the nature of the policy they had breached. The employee was also given a reasonable opportunity to respond to the allegations before a meeting was held. This demonstra

The Fair Work Commission recently reinstated a forklift driver, ruling his summary dismissal for two safety breaches was disproportionate, and citing his age, his inability to find other work and status as primary carer for his sick wife as relevant considerations. He was terminated after an OHS investigation revealed that he hadn't properly locked out a trailer door as required by the company's safety policy when he was cleaning spilt milk. The FWC stated "In all the circumstances, there were lesser punishments open to wh

The importance of capturing written policies and procedures was on display during a recent unfair dismissal case. One of the fundamental failings of the employer was their claim that they had Standard Operating Procedures for employees, and that the employee should have read and been aware of these procedures. The employee denied ever seeing this document, so it became imperative that the employer produce the document. However, the Employer was unable produce this Standard Operating Procedure as evidence before the Fair W

The Fair Work Commission has stated that in some cases, an employer made need to summarily dismiss an employee to emphasise “importance of establishing and maintaining a safe and healthy workplace”. Commissioner David Gregory said "simply providing a warning and, in effect, a second chance, cannot be the appropriate response in every case involving a safety breach." He found that the employee involved in one particular case had deliberately breached the company’s safety policy and the action could have resulted in s

Whilst Myer may seem to have been on the front foot by terminating a cleaning provider following revelations that subcontractors had underpaid staff by $6300, it could definitely have been dealt with a lot earlier. The underpayments made by subcontractors to Pioneer Facilities Services were revealed following a visit to Myer’s Fountain Gate store in South East Melbourne during December last year, when the Fair Work Ombudsman says it interviewed two cleaners during an unannounced visit. According to the Ombudsman, the t

The Fair Work Commission decision on proposed amendments to time off in lieu (TOIL) of payment of overtime and make-up time was announced today as part of its four yearly review of modern rewards. The Full Bench decided to add a “provisional model TOIL paragraph” into 113 modern awards presently without a TOIL provision. This means that TOIL may be calculated at the ordinary time rate except for in awards where it is calculated at a time for penalty rate. These changes were excluded from the following:

• Buildin

Since January 2010, employers have been required to provide a Fair Work Information Statement to new employees as soon as possible after their employment commences. From today the statement will reflect the updated high-income threshold noted above, so employers must ensure they provide the correct version, and are familiar with its contents. The updated statement will be available on the Fair Work site, via the HR Central online platform or by contacting us here at HR Central. Failing to provide a copy of the statement,

The Fair Work Commission 2.5% increase to minimum wages will apply from the first full pay period starting on or after 1 July 2015. The increase only applies to employees that get their pay rates from the national minimum wage, a modern award or in some cases a registered agreement. Most employees are covered by an award. Award rates will increase by 2.5%. The Fair Work Ombudsman is encouraging employers to use its online pay tools to check new pay rates applicable to their workplace. These can be accessed at Continue Reading