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Changes to the unfair dismissal remuneration cap, national minimum wage, minimum award rates and filing fees
Introduction New award rates, unfair dismissal thresholds and other changes in the employment arena have been announced, some of which commence from 1 July 2020 (please see below regarding the commencement dates for award rates). These are some of the main changes. Unfair dismissal threshold (high income threshold) and maximum compensation cap The high income threshold will increase from the previous $148,700 to $153,600 from 1 July 2020. This means employees whose annual rate of earnings is $153,600 (which excludes statutory superannuation) or more, and who are not covered by an award or enterprise agreement, are unable to pursue an unfair dismissal application. The change also means that the maximum compensation that can be awarded for an unfair dismissal claim will increase from $74,350 to $76,800. National minimum wage The national minimum wage has increase to $753.80 pe...
1 July 2020High cost for an employer breaching the general protections provisions of the Fair Work Act
Background In an earlier judgement, the Court found that Macquarie University had contravened the general protections provisions of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (the Act) by making a former employee redundant because the former employee had made complaints about her direct report. The University had also failed to redeploy the former employee to available roles. The Court was satisfied that the reason for this failure was also due to the complaints the employee had made and that the failure also amounted to a breach of the applicable Enterprise Agreement. Having made the initial findings in favour of the aggrieved employee, the Court, in a subsequent decision, considered the issue of remedies and that decision provides some good guidance on the matters that a Court may take into account when determining the appropriate remedies in a general protections matter. Reinstatement Importantly, the Court reiterated ...
8 May 2020High-income employee not protected from unfair dismissal as not covered by Award
The Fair Work Commission found this former employee, who was the Head of Estimating and Project Controls for Metro Trains Melbourne Pty Ltd, did not have protection from unfair dismissal and accordingly could not bring such a claim. This former employee exceeded the ‘high income threshold’ for an unfair dismissal claim. The ‘high income threshold’ at the time was $148,700 per annum. This employee had a gross annual remuneration (including superannuation) of $238,760.05 and also had a company phone plus unlimited free public transport in Victoria. Despite the employee’s annual earnings significantly exceeding the ‘high income threshold’ for an unfair dismissal claim, the employee argued that he was covered by an award and therefore able to pursue an unfair dismissal claim regardless of the extent of his remuneration. The award coverage issue The former employee argued his employment was covered by ...
30 April 2020