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Fair Work Review Amendments Pass Parliament
As a result of the 53 recommendations for the amendment of the Fair Work Act 2009 made earlier this year (see related article here), the Fair Work Amendment Bill 2012 (the Bill) has passed through Parliament.
The amendments mainly concern:
unfair dismissal;
changes to the structure and operation of Fair Work Australia:
superannuation default funds; and
technical amendments and amendments by way of clarification.
The more substantive amendments are summarised in the table below:
Current provision under the Fair Work Act
Amendment under the Bill
Fair Work Australia
Fair Work Australia.
Fair Work Australia will be renamed the Fair Work Commission (
Employee reinstated despite inappropriate use of social media
Introduction As the use of social media becomes more prevalent, some interesting case law is emerging regarding what is or isn’t acceptable behaviour in relation to comments surrounding the workplace. In the following decision, an employee was reinstated despite making inappropriate comments about his managers and his employer on Facebook. Background Mr Stutsel was employed by Linfox Australia Pty Ltd (Linfox) as a truck driver in April 1989. He was also undertook the role of TWU union delegate. Mr Stutsel did not have any record of prior warnings although evidence was submitted by a Linfox manager that he previously counselled Mr Stutsel regarding him making inappropriate comments regarding religion. As part of Linfox's induction training it provided employees with an induction booklet which outlined the Linfox Equal Opportunity and Diversity Policy. Mr Stutsel had participated in the induction training and also had access...
13 December 2012CBA set to appeal Barclay decision
In our article on 12 September 2012, we outlined the Federal Court decision of Barker v Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) (read the related article here). The decision gave further recognition of the existence of an implied term of trust of confidence in contracts of employment in Australia. The decision further confirmed that damages may be awarded as a result of an employer breaching the implied term of trust and confidence. The CBA has filed and served an appeal in this matter against the orders made by the Federal Court based on the grounds that the Court erred in finding: there was an implied term of mutual trust and confidence in employments contracts; there was a serious breach of the redeployment policy giving rise to a breach of the implied term of trust and confidence; and the respondent was entitled to damages. It is expected that the for the appeal is expected early next year and we will continue to keep you appraised in re...
13 December 2012