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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 2022. 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 $158,500 to $162,000 from 1 July 2022. This means employees whose annual rate of earnings is $162,000 (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 $79,250 to $81,000. National minimum wage The national minimum wage will increase to $812.60 per week or to $21.38 per hour (calculated on the basis of a 38-hour week for a full-time emp...
28 June 2022A Full Federal Court decision confirms that an approved enterprise agreement remains legally binding even where deficiencies in making the agreement are later discovered
In an important case regarding the enforceability of approved enterprise agreements, a Full Federal Court has held that an enterprise agreement approved by the Fair Work Commission will remain legally binding, even if it is subsequently discovered that there were deficiencies in the agreement-making and approval process. Contextual background After the relevant EA was approved by the FWC in 2017, it was discovered that a number of pre-approval steps failed to meet the requirements of the Fair Work Act. In particular, about 40% of relevant employees were deprived of the opportunity to vote on the EA. The Full Federal Court “safely assumed” that had the FWC known of that issue when the application was made for the approval of the 2017 EA, the EA would not have been approved by the FWC. When the voting deficiency became known to the employer and the union, they began negotiating another enterprise agreement and ultimately a new enterpri...
5 April 2022Out-of-hours conduct sufficiently connected with employment? The Commission “draws the line” in a recent unfair dismissal case
A recent unfair dismissal case has further explained where the Fair Work Commission “draws the line” on when out-of-hours conduct is sufficiently connected with employment to provide a valid reason for an employer to dismiss an employee for out-of-hours conduct. On 10 March 2021, following a compulsory Workshop that ended at 4pm, the employer had organised a social event for employees, the “Sundowner”. Some of the features of the “Sundowner” event included: optional attendance; employees were not paid for this time if they chose to attend; employees wore smart casual dress, not uniforms; there was no employer signage or branding, but employees were encouraged to gather at a particular section of the main bar; employees had a wristband identifying them as the employer’s guests so they could obtain free drinks at the bar; and the employer’s bar tab closed at around 7pm. The employer termina...
15 February 2022