Persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBUs) have a range of positive duties and obligations to ensure the health and safety of workers under the model work health and safety laws in Australia. These duties and obligations can at times be forgotten, especially when PCBUs are engaged in complex work arrangements that involve a number of duty holders.

In such cases, PCBUs must be aware of the duties they bear, such as the consultation obligation which requires a…

Australia has long had in place state and federal anti-discrimination legislation which recognises sexual harassment as a form of sex discrimination and makes sexual harassment in the workplace unlawful. Under sex discrimination legislation, such as the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth), employers are obligated to ensure that workplaces are free from sexual harassment and can be held vicariously liable for the unlawful acts of their employees.

New guidance material has been…

Employers often see the disciplinary process as an opportunity to raise every single indiscretion by an employee – even though the issues occurred in the past or are minor in nature when compared to other misconduct. However, this approach can weaken the employer’s position, rather than strengthen the decision to dismiss.

In Lupson v Australian Pacific Airports (Melbourne) Pty Ltd [2020] FWC 6721, the Fair Work Commission (FWC) was critical of an employer’s…

Work health and safety legislation in Australia places significant duties and obligations on persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) to ensure the health and safety of workers. These duties and obligations, and the penalties for non-compliance, are intended to reflect the serious harm that could be suffered by workers at work and to act as deterrents to employer staking shortcuts when it comes to health and safety.

PCBUs must have the correct processes and…

Employers have long known that they are obliged to try to find new employment opportunities for employees who are faced with the redundancy of their current role.  This might include redeployment within the employer or its related companies, or finding employment with a third party.

Despite employers’ best efforts to preserve employment, from time-to-time disputes arise when employees would rather have redundancy pay than a new role – or where the new role is not an adequate…

The Fair Work Regulations 2009 (Cth) (FW Regulations) impose a number of obligations on employers with respect to the making and keeping of employee records and pay slips.

The FW Regulations set out what records an employer is required to hold and the period for which they must be…

In order to access the unfair dismissal jurisdiction, an employee must be “dismissed” from their employment by the employer. One of the instances in which an employee may be “dismissed” from their employment is if they were forced to resign because of the employer’s conduct or course of conduct. This is referred to as “constructive dismissal”.

This can often be a contentious issue as employees may perceive that…

Under the general protections provisions in the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FW Act), it is unlawful for a person to take adverse action against another person for a proscribed reason.

One of the features of the general protections provisions under the FW Act is the presumption that…

A termination of employment letter serves a significant purpose in bringing the employment relationship to an end.

Termination letters are frequently relied upon by employers and employees alike when a claim for unfair dismissal is made. Given their tendency to arise in legal proceedings, it is important that these documents are correct, provide as much detail as possible and meet the requirements under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FW…

When it comes to engaging new employees or promoting existing employees, it is crucial that employers prepare and review contracts of employment to ensure that they accurately reflect the terms which will govern an employee’s employment.

Standard clauses, such as clauses providing notice of termination, can easily be overlooked. This can be a critical error because, in the absence of a contract or certain clauses within a contract, a court will imply those terms. For example,…