Jenny Smith

Protecting Worker Entitlements reforms – more key dates for employers

By Alexandra Shields and Jenny Smith on August 24, 2023 Posted in Australia, General

This article was co-authored with Lachlan Crosbie. Employers need to be aware of key changes to legislation protecting employee rights which will commence in the coming months. The Fair Work Legislation (Protecting Employee Entitlements) Act 2023 (Protecting Employee Entitlements Act) marks the Government’s second major reform to the Fair Work Act 2009 (FW Act). The … Continue reading

Accessorial Liability – Third Party Advisors

By Jenny Smith on October 2, 2018 Posted in Asia Pacific, Australia

The recent case of EZY Accounting 123 Pty Ltd v Fair Work Ombudsman [2018] FCAFC 134 demonstrates the broad reach of the accessorial liability provisions under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (the Act). In this case the Full Federal Court (FFC) dismissed the appeal of an accounting firm which was found by the Federal … Continue reading

Genuine Redundancy and Redeployment – Job Swapping Reasonable in All the Circumstances?

By Jenny Smith on March 20, 2017 Posted in Asia Pacific, Australia

In the recent case of Skinner et al v Asciano Services Pty Ltd T/A Pacific National Bulk [2017] FWCFB 574 the Full Bench found that an employer breached its obligation to explore redeployment options under s.389(2) of the Fair Work Act 2009 after making 7 of its employees redundant without properly considering job swaps and … Continue reading

Reasonable Notice Claims – Update

By Jenny Smith and Beth Kitchener on September 14, 2016 Posted in Asia Pacific, Australia

It is generally accepted that the common law will imply a term of “reasonable notice” into a contract of employment which makes no provision for termination notice. However, this general rule was displaced by the case of Brennan v Kangaroo Island Council [2013] SASCFC 151 which found that reasonable notice may not be implied in … Continue reading

You should have known better: dismissal of long serving employee for safety breaches

By Jenny Smith on February 24, 2016 Posted in Asia Pacific, Australia

The Fair Work Commission has found that a 50 year old airline services operator for Qantas who breached his employer’s safety rules 3 times in 20 days was not unfairly dismissed and that his breaches were considered all the more serious, given that he had 14 years’ experience in his role.… Continue reading

Off-site and out of hours conduct: none of the employer’s business?

By Jenny Smith on April 1, 2015 Posted in Asia Pacific, Australia

Generally, an employer has no right to control or regulate an employee’s out of hours conduct. However, in the modern employment relationship where employees work from home, are required to travel abroad and frequently engage in social media with their colleagues and clients, the line between work and play can often be blurred. So when … Continue reading

New IR bill: Have you thought about workplace productivity?

By Jenny Smith on December 1, 2014 Posted in Australia

The Fair Work Amendment (Bargaining Processes) Bill 2014 (the Bill) was recently introduced into Parliament and has a strong focus on workplace productivity and progressing the bargaining process. If the Bill is passed it will require the Fair Work Commission (FWC), when approving enterprise agreements (but not greenfields deals), to be satisfied that parties discussed … Continue reading

Sham contracting: Become an independent contractor, or you’re fired!

By Jason Noakes and Jenny Smith on November 20, 2014 Posted in Australia

With ever increasing economic pressures employers are frequently required to consider ways to reduce employment and labour costs. While there are many ways to lawfully achieve this, requiring an employee to become an independent contractor performing the same work, certainly isn’t one of them. The recent case of The Director of the Fair Work Building … Continue reading