In May 2025 the Constitutional Court held that, in truly exceptional circumstances, it will rescind its own earlier orders to cure a grave injustice. The employee in the case persuaded the Constitutional Court that the Labour Court had erred in failing to decide a key issue in his case.

The employee had been found guilty…

Employers undertaking restructuring or outsourcing should take careful note of an August 2025 judgment by the Labour Appeal Court (LAC) wherein it was found that, due to the automatic nature of section 197 transfers between employers, employees need not tender their services to the new employer to enforce their rights. The LAC re-affirmed…

2025 has seen a slew of Fair Work Commission (Commission) decisions considering applications for extension of time, in circumstances where applicants have missed the statutory deadline for filing their unfair dismissal, general protections or unlawful termination claims.  Successfully challenging an application that has been filed late is one way for an employer to dispense with…

Un de vos employés-clés, bâtisseur de l’entreprise, annonce sa démission. Quelques jours plus tard, vous apprenez qu’il a joint les rangs de l’un de vos principaux concurrents. Vous êtes rassuré de constater qu’il a souscrit en faveur de l’entreprise un engagement de non-concurrence. Vous savez qu’une telle clause doit être limitée à ce qui est…

Acknowledgements to Melinda Bell and Lyndel David for their contributions.

Introduction

On Friday, 5 September 2025, the Federal Court of Australia (Court) issued an important decision in Fair Work Ombudsman v Woolworths Group Limited & Ors [2025] FCA 1092 (FWO v Woolworths). The decision offers guidance to employers on how to ensure compliance with…

Der ordentlich gekündigte und freigestellte Arbeitnehmer unterlässt in der Regel nicht böswillig anderweitigen Verdienst, wenn er vor Ablauf der Kündigungsfrist kein anderweitiges Beschäftigungsverhältnis eingeht.

Sachverhalt

Die Parteien streiten um die Anrechnung böswillig unterlassenen anderweitigen Verdienstes auf Verzugslohnansprüche. Der Kläger war als Senior Consultant seit November 2019 bei der Beklagten beschäftigt. Die Beklagte kündigte das Arbeitsverhältnis…

An employee who is duly dismissed and released from their duties is not generally considered as intentionally failing to seek other income by not entering into another employment relationship before the end of their notice period.

Facts

The parties were in dispute over the defendant’s deduction of “omitted alternative income” from the employee’s claims for…

This article was co-authored with Arabella Cull.

The Work Health and Safety Regulation 2025 commenced on 22 August 2025, replacing the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2017 and introducing changes such as the application of the hierarchy of control measures to psychosocial risks, and new information sharing duties for the silica worker register.  At the…

In this latest blog in our Mansion House series, we consider what trustees newly empowered to distribute surplus when the Pension Schemes Bill comes into force will first need to consider. Whatever the statutory framework, there will normally be competing possible uses of surplus, and charting a way through competing claims while meeting their fiduciary…

There have been some important amendments to the Industrial Relations Act 1996 (NSW) (IR Act) and the Industrial Relations (General) Regulation 2020 (NSW) (IR Regulations) as a result of the Industrial Relations and Other Legislation Amendment (Workplace Protections) Bill 2025 (NSW) (the Bill) which was passed by the NSW Government on 26 June 2025.

The…