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The importance of an employer keeping records of hours worked
This case is an appeal heard by the Federal Court. The matter involved two employees who argued that they had worked ‘long hours’ for which they were not paid. The employer could not provide records of the hours worked by the employees. By contrast, the employees provided evidence of the hours which were alleged to have been worked ‘in handwritten schedules’ which they claimed were based on contemporaneous records they had kept. The Federal Court observed that the requirement on an employer to keep records ‘are an important part of the protections afforded by the Fair Work Act’ on employees. Section 557C of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) In this case, a key issue was the implications of s.557C of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth). Briefly stated, that section provides that when an employee alleges that an employer breached certain provisions of the legislation or an industrial instru...
4 October 2019Is there a ‘genuine redundancy’? Distinguishing ‘duties’ versus ‘the job’
An employee’s unfair dismissal claim was unsuccessful as the Fair Work Commission found there was a ‘genuine redundancy’. Job not required In determining whether there was a ‘genuine redundancy’ the Commission first considered whether ‘…the person’s employer no longer required the person’s job to be performed by anyone because of changes in the operational requirements of the employer’s enterprise…’. The employer asserted the redundancy was necessary due to its new product sales having fallen by 15% and its product servicing revenue by 15.7%. It was further contended by the employer that it considered the ‘commercial challenges at hand’ and the ‘sustainability of the business’ in deciding to undertake a reorganisation of the employee’s duties which were distributed amongst several other employees. The employer did not deny that some of these duties wer...
15 July 20191 July 2019 changes to the unfair dismissal remuneration cap
Introduction New award rates, thresholds and other changes in the employment arena commence from 1 July 2019. The following article briefly summarises the main changes that employers should be aware of. Unfair dismissal threshold (high income threshold) and maximum compensation cap The high-income threshold will increase from the previous $145,400 to $148,700 from 1 July 2019. This means employees whose annual rate of earnings is $148,700 (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 $72,700 to $74,350. National minimum wage The national minimum wage will increase to $740.80 per week or by $19.49 per hour (calculated on the basis of a 38-hour week for ...
24 June 2019