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Does an employee accrue annual leave whilst on paid workers' compensation?
A Full Federal Court has confirmed an earlier contentious decision, that where relevant workers' compensation legislation allows or permits an employee to receive annual leave while absent from work on paid workers' compensation, they will be entitled to take and accrue annual leave under the National Employment Standards (the NES). Background The employee was engaged in New South Wales (NSW) by Anglican Care as an assistant in nursing. In December 2009, the employee sustained a workplace injury and was unable to work from the date of the injury until her employment terminated in May 2011. The employee received workers' compensation payments from the date of her injury until the termination date. On the termination of her employment, the employee was not paid any accrued annual leave for the period beyond December 2009. Section 130...
15 July 2015New Fair Work Information Statement
On 1 July 2015, the Fair Work Ombudsman released and updated the Fair Work Information Statement. The Fair Work Information Statement provides information on various minimum employment rights such as the National Employment Standards, flexible working arrangements, modern awards and agreement making. Under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), all employers are obligated to provide employees with a copy of the Fair Work Information Statement as soon as possible after the commencement of employment. It can be provided in advance of the employment. Employers should ensure that they are providing the most up to date version of the Fair Work Information Statement. Employers can also access the Fair Work Information Statement translated into 27 different languages for their ESL employees on the Fair Work Ombudsman website by clicking [here]. If you would like to know more about this article, please contact National Workplace Lawyers on +61 9233 3989. National Workp...
13 July 2015Redundant employee awarded discretionary bonus
A recent Federal Circuit Court decision provides a timely reminder that if employers intend to withhold discretionary employee bonuses they should be sure the decision to withhold the bonus is not capricious. Background On 15 May 2009, the employee entered into a contract of employment (the Contract) with Westpac. The Contract provided that "… eligibility to be considered for the payment of any invariable reward or incentive payment is at the absolute discretion of Westpac." The Contract contained a 'Policy' clause which named several specific policies but also provided that these policies did not form part of the Contract. The redundancy policy was not listed in the Policy clause. Later in May 2009, the employee agreed to participate in Westpac's bonus plan. The bonus plan's guidelines and rules specified eligibility criteria and the rules for managers in assessing a...
7 July 2015