Nineteen labour disputes and unfair dismissal cases will be argued in the Fair Work Commission today. The full list is: Bluestone Animal Hospital Pty Ltd (Cooper), BHP Coal Pty Limited (Crawford), Beachport Corporation Pty Ltd (Gladman), Lidco Architectural Systems Pty Ltd (Shah), Wire Industries Pty Ltd (Marinas), Australian Medical Association (Act) Limited (Ozolinis), Warringah Plastics Pty Ltd (Wigglesworth), Aristocrat Leisure Limited (Storey), Marist Youth Care Limited (Durston), ARtchefs Pty Limited & Nelson Unit Trust (Franco), The Trustee for Dickson Trust (Murphy), Toll Logistics Aust Pty Ltd (Ristevski), Domoney Investments Unit Trust (Glick), HBF (Legesse), Grandview Poultry (Bilton), Corporation of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Toowoomba (Carter), Malanda & District RSL & Citizens Memorial Club (Deeley), Malanda & District RSL & Citizens Memorial Club (Dickerson), Rand Transport Pty Ltd (Chittleborough).
October 18, 2016
Twenty nine unfair dismissal and labour dispute applications are lined up for hearing by the Fair Work Commission today. The full list is: Catholic Education Office, Archdiocese of Sydney (O’Connell), Quality Bakers Australia Pty Ltd (Quispe), Cronulla Real Estate Pty Ltd (Buck), ISS Property Services Pty Ltd, The Trustee for Hunter Valley Road Service Unie Trust (Jackson), Jackson & Jackson Refrigeration Pty Ltd (Farrell), Beachport Corporation Pty Ltd (Gladman), Assetlink Services Pty Limited (Ramirez), C&V Engineering Co Pty Ltd (Ferla), Lane Cove Retirement Units Association Ltd (Allan), Roy Hill Operations Pty LTd (Pauling), City of Swan (Hemsley), Serco Australia Pty Ltd (Russell), City of Wanneroo (Ecclestone), City of Wanneroo (Gordon), FMG Personnel Services Pty Ltd (Etienne), Jandakot Airport Holdings Pty Ltd (Bambury), Patrick Studios Australia Pty Ltd (Meisels), Metropolitan Planning (now known as Victoria Planning Authority) (Kirby), Camec Pty Ltd (De La Cruz), Department of Justice and Regulation (Parise), Wormald Australia Pty Ltd (Brodrick), National Health Cooperative (Mugabi), Australian Medical Association (Act) Limited (Ozolinis), Corporation of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Toowoomba (Carter), Malanda & District RSL & Citizens Memorial Club (Deeley), Malanda & District RSL & Citizens Memorial Club (Dickerson), Aquila Pty Ltd (Savy).
October 17, 2016
The Fair Work Commission will hear twenty four labour dispute applications today. Six emanate from a single employer. The full list is: Open Colleges Pty Ltd (Khullar), Training Services (Smith), Roly Poly Childcare Centre (Shirley), Pickwick Group Pty Ltd (Zinn), Rail Corporation New South Wales (Salama), Coil Steels Pty Ltd (Lavetala), Patrick Projects Pty Ltd (Deeney/Hughes/King/Park/Seiffert/Strauss), Coles Group Supply Chain Pty Ltd (Hutchings), Wirraka Maya Health Service Aboriginal Corporation (Plummer), Jain Pty Ltd (Michael), Department of Natural Resources and Mines (Wanninayake), Louis Dreyfus Commodities Pty Ltd (Burgess), Allied Mills Pty Ltd (Reid), Metro Trains Melbourne Pty Ltd (Lonnqvist), Victorian Diesel Services Pty Ltd (Neil), Otis Elevator Company Pty Ltd (Dharmapala), Total Essential Services Group Pty Ltd (Hird), Midland Women’s Health Care Place Inc & Patsy (Hisco), Australian Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (Gotje).
October 13, 2016
Thirty labour dispute applications are listed for hearing by the Fair Work Commission today. The full list is: Woolworths Limited (Coles), Magmore Pty Ltd (Berton), The Salvation Army (Connelly), Catalent Australia Pty Ltd (Wong), Sport Star Academy Pty Ltd (A’Beckett), Metropolitan Fire Brigade (Turner), Solar Station Alpha Pty Ltd (von Erkel), Wild Action Productions Pty Ltd (Dole), Cowley Security Australia Pty Ltd (Geremia), Bendigo Health Care Group (Logan), Costa Exchange Limited (Webster), Meat Inspectors Pty Ltd (Alce), MSS Security Pty Ltd (Carter), Meat Inspectors Pty Ltd (Ellison/Hogno/Macreadie), RT Communications Pty Limited (Robinson), Pioneer Hi Bred Australia Pty Ltd (Haylan), First Australian Company Pty Ltd (Wong), AMP Capital Investors Limited (Vinall), AMP Capital Investors Limited & Ethos Corporation Pty Limited (Vinall), Fitnance Australia Pty Ltd (Matthews), Morris Corporation (AUST) Pty Ltd (Robinson), PFD Food Services Pty Ltd (Long), Busselton Jetty Environment and Conservation Association Incorporated (Gawthrop), Hyatt Regency Hotel Perth (Price), Konekt Australia Pty Ltd (Linnett), Pilbara Iron Company (Services) Pty Ltd (Norgren), Nortec Employment & Training (Bigg).
October 11, 2016
TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT – genuine redundancy – ss.389, 394, 596 Fair Work Act 2009 – application for unfair dismissal remedy – applicant’s position declared redundant in May 2016 – received redundancy payment of $127,000 plus accrued entitlements – respondent objected on basis dismissal was a genuine redundancy – respondent’s representative sought leave to appear under s.389 FW Act – applicant opposed granting of leave – objected to level of ‘complexity’ – Commission granted leave to appear – found that lack of sufficient ‘legal and/or workplace relations expertise’ and failure by Commission to address the condition of ignorance of law, on any discrete finding, may lead to a ‘constructive denial of procedural fairness ‘ following Full Bench decision in [Titan Plant Hire P/L v Van Malsen] – found availability of detailed materials in public domain cannot be relied upon to inform unrepresented parties to the requisite degree – ‘workplace relations expertise’ requires ‘professional (not incidental or infrequent) engagement with the statutory regime’ – level of expertise short of this standard may warrant permission to appear being granted, unless Commission undertakes to guide an unrepresented party to each relevant statutory matter, interpretation and authorities – Commission considered meaning of ‘genuine redundancy’ – whether position would no longer be performed by anyone because of changes in operational requirements – whether respondent had complied with any consultation obligations – found that consultation obligations under clause 51 of the James Cook University Enterprise Agreement 2013-2016 were discharged – found that no other alternative position to which applicant could have reasonably redeployed was identified – application dismissed. Smith v James Cook University
October 11, 2016
TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT – termination at initiative of employer – resignation – s.394 Fair Work Act 2009 – application for relief from unfair dismissal – applicant employed as a modelmaker – respondent was a small architectural design company in Perth – operated in a very competitive market – applicant sought a performance review and salary increase in October 2014 – respondent offered two possible options – applicant replied ‘Please accept option 3. I tender my resignation effective immediately.’ – after discussions the applicant returned to work with no change to his employment contract – in September 2015 there was an incident in the model shop involving the applicant and another employee – heated verbal, almost physical, exchange – applicant given a written warning – meeting between parties – whether applicant resigned – applicant maintained he had tendered no resignation, verbally or in writing, implied or otherwise – respondent submitted applicant did resign – respondent accepted resignation and applicant’s employment was terminated at that point – Commission found applicant’s evidence repetitive, exaggerated, argumentative and self-serving – satisfied the applicant resigned, without notice, in the meeting with the respondent on 17 September 2015 – as the applicant was not dismissed at the initiative of the employer, he could not have been unfairly dismissed – Commission satisfied that if the applicant had not resigned his poor behaviour and inappropriate conduct would have justified dismissal – application dismissed for want of jurisdiction. Blythe v David Hartree Design Associates P/L t/a Hartree and Associates Architects
October 11, 2016
ENTERPRISE AGREEMENTS – approval – notice of representational rights – s.185 Fair Work Act 2009 – application by Falcon Mining P/L for approval of the Falcon Mining P/L Enterprise Agreement 2016 – Commission held concerns about whether agreement could be approved – Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union Mining & Energy Division – Northern Mining and NSW Energy District (CFMEU) objected to approval – CFMEU was not a bargaining representative for agreement – filed a notice of representative commencing to act in respect of an employee of Falcon who would be covered by the agreement if approved – Commission decided to hear from the CFMEU pursuant to powers under s.590 of FW Act – series of errors and omissions on the part of Falcon in relation to the pre-approval process and application documents – effect of incorrect information in Notice of Employee Representational Rights (NERR) – effect of incorrect information in application documents including employer statutory declaration – requirement to take all reasonable steps to give NERR to employees – no requirement for NERR to be given to each individual employee – reasonable steps may include giving notice individually and collectively – NERR only required to be given to employees employed at the notification time – requirement to take all reasonable steps to give an explanation of the terms of the agreement and their effect to employees – other reasonable grounds for the Commission to believe that the agreement was not genuinely agreed – whether agreement contained unlawful terms – interaction between National Employment Standards (NES) and award in relation to personal/carer’s leave and public holidays – whether exclusion of NES term could be addressed by undertaking – whether agreement passed the better off overall test (BOOT) – whether undertakings required to meet Commission’s concerns about BOOT issues would result in substantial change to the agreement – approval refused. Falcon Mining P/L Enterprise Agreement 2016
October 11, 2016
ANTI-BULLYING – likely to continue – s.789FC Fair Work Act 2009 – application for order to stop bullying – applicant complained of bullying by CEO and General Manager of employer, a youth welfare organisation – applicant argued verbal harassment, unwarranted criticism by management and general discrimination – applicant was receiving worker’s compensation payments and had been on leave since anti-bullying application lodged – General Manager, one of alleged bullies, had left employer – Commission confirmed that where there is no risk that employee will continue to be bullied at work, matter should be dismissed for want of jurisdiction [Willis] – observed applicant had not been at work for 12 months and if he did return it would be to alternative supervision arrangements – applicant had not appeared at any Commission proceedings to prosecute his claim for a year – Commission found no risk that the applicant would continue to be bullied at work and matter had no reasonable prospects of success – application dismissed for want of jurisdiction. Mr Richardson
