HR Central

In a recent case at Fair Work Commission (FWC) an employee was found to have been unfairly dismissed after she refused to accept changing her remuneration package from $80,000 base salary and a car to $54,000 base and no car. The background to the case was the manager agreed to move from a head office role to the store managers role on the same remuneration package as the store had not been performing very well. In a relative short space of time the store's turnover increased by nearly  20% and it became one of the top s

A forklift driver has won an unfair dismissal case against Coca-Cola Amatil (CCA) after he was terminated earlier this year over an incident where he told another employee to “bugger off”. The employee  was driving a forklift when he was involved in a near-miss incident with another employee who had walked across the path of the moving vehicle. Naturally there were differing accounts over what exactly was said during the exchange, but FWC found at minimum, the employee had told his co-worker to “bugger off and tha

A recent decision concerning a senior public servant who claimed his manager treated him terribly while trying to force his dismissal has failed to win anti-bullying orders. The Fair Work Commission found his performance was managed in an "ordinary fashion". What was most interesting was that the FWC was satisfied that neither the employee's managers nor his colleagues bullied him, and that the department demonstrated an "ordinary exercise of management prerogative". The FWC went on to say "I am satisfied that the [employ

The following example shows employers the importance of following all the proper procedures and guidelines. In this example, an individual had worked for her employer, a small family-run photographic business for over 12 years. The owners of that business were planning for their retirement and told the individual of their plans to leave  the business to their son (also an employee) and the individual. Nothing changed until September 2012, when the employee informed her employees that she was pregnant, and planned to ta

There is always much debate on whether to reinstate a worker who wins an unfair dismissal claim. In a recent case involved separate underpayment claims by a number of teachers, their view was that management at the school discriminated against them and breached workplace laws. These claims were upheld, however a member of the Fair Work Commission suggested it would be unwise to recommend reinstatement as  "continuing ill-will between the parties" was likely. He suggested the relationship was "so damaged that it cannot

A couple of recent examples show how important it is for company directors to be aware that they may be prosecuted for any underpayment of wages which occurs on their watch. In the Federal Circuit Court an assistant at a delicatessen argued that his employer was guilty of the following:

• not paying the required minimum wages
• not paying his allowances or overtime
• failure to make superannuation contributions on his behalf
• failure to provide him with payslips
• failure to pay his

As part of the Fair Work Commission’s four-yearly review of modern awards, the ACTU (Peak Union Body) is seeking to introduce an across-the-board entitlement to 10 days a year of paid family and domestic violence leave. The application has been lodged, with the ACTU seeking the 10-day paid entitlement for permanent employees, and a 10-day unpaid entitlement for casual employees. Part of the rationale for the claim is that it gives employees the opportunity to use the leave to seek legal advice relating to their situat

In the last financial year, the Fair Work Ombudsman finalised 25,650 complaints from employees. Of these complaints 58% came from male workers and %42 from female workers. The outcome of investigations into these complaints recovered more than $23 million for 15,483 individuals. The accommodation and food services industry generated the most worker complaints (12%), followed by construction (10%), retail trade (9%), administrative and support services (7%) and manufacturing (7%). 27% of these complaints originated in Vi

  Participating in Safety Week seminars always provides a stark reminder of the need to maintain proper compliance with the OHS Act, OHS regulations & the relevant Code of Practice. This was especially highlighted during the presentation on manual handling and controlling manual handling risks. The key statistics for every Employer to be aware of are

• 40% of all claims received in 2013 related to manual handling claims.
• 22%are around slips, trips and falls
• the average cost of a manual

As you may be aware, anti-discrimination law states that you cannot treat an employee with a disability less favourably than you would treat any other employee. This means that before saying you cant hire or keep someone with a disability, Employers must ask themselves "is it reasonable to implement adjustments for the employee?" The definition is a little clumsy but in essence reasonable adjustments are adjustments that do not impose an unjustifiable hardship on your business. Including physical, practical and financ