On 26 November 2020, the High Court granted a special leave application made by labour hire company Workpac to appeal the Full Federal Court’s finding in the matter of Workpac Pty Ltd v Rossato [2020] FCAFC 84 (Rossato) which was handed down earlier this year. In Rossato, the Court held that a casual employee engaged on a regular, systemic and predictable basis was entitled to leave entitlements, plus payment for public holidays, as set out in the National Employment Standards (NES) of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) and, controversially, that Workpac was not entitled to “set-off” the amount of casual loading paid to this employee against these leave entitlements. The decision of Rossato left employers vulnerable to claims for substantial leave payments and penalties for failing to provide entitlements to casual employees engaged in regular and predictable work. The granting of special leave by High Court Justices Bell and Nettle means that Workpac may be able to overturn the judgment and prevent casual employees from being able to “double dip” by claiming both casual loading and NES entitlements. Our previous summary of Rossato can be viewed here.
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