Twenty-one unfair dismissal claims will be heard in the Fair Work Commission jurisdiction today. The full list is: Lencrow Group Pty Ltd (Abboud), Saint Thomas Aquinas College (James), Bedford Phoenix (Brunoli), Marchegiano Group Pty Ltd (Salerno), Stegbar Pty Ltd (Lapping), St Francis Community Children’s Centre (Soni), Woodpend Pty Ltd (Lee), Menzies International (Aust) Pty Ltd (Shrestha), RACQ Operations Pty Ltd (Curtis), Ludowici Sealing Solutions Pty Ltd (Koulouris), BHP Coal Pty Limited (McDermott), JBS Australia Pty Ltd (Ziser), Superior Fire Services Pty Ltd (Negro), Gateway Lifestyle Employment Services Pty Ltd (Mahoney), G8 Education Ltd (Macri), Kiama Leagues Club (Round), Perth Ice Works (Stribley), Inception WA Pty Ltd as trustee of the Araminta Trust (Maile), Kentz Pty Ltd (Leyland), Scott Corporation Limited (Boyce), Knox Basketball Incorporated (Smith).
August 2, 2016
An application for approval of the National Fire Solutions (VIC) Pty Ltd and CEPU – Plumbing Division (Vic) Fire Protection Service Agreement Victoria 2016-2020 (s.185 – Application for approval of a single-enterprise agreement) will be reviewed by Fair Work Commissioner Gregory in his Melbourne chambers.
August 2, 2016
An application for approval of the NGI Training and Services Pty Ltd and CEPU – Plumbing Division Victorian Branch Lagging Enterprise Agreement 2015-2019 (s.185 – Application for approval of a single-enterprise agreement) will be determined by Fair Work Commissioner Roe in his Melbourne chambers.
August 1, 2016
Twenty-one unfair dismissal applicants will marshall their collective arguments for the Fair Work Commission today. The full list is: Specialist Diagnostic Services Pty Ltd (Moore), Hinbro Pty Ltd (Williams), New South Wales Nurses and Midwives’ Association (Papalexion), Reece Plumbing Pty Ltd (Ryan), South Eastern Sydney Local Health District (Naicker), Inner West Towing (Maynard), Irentalz P/L (Ferguson), Curtin University (Zou), Serco Immigration Services (McAlpine), Innotech Site Services Pty Ltd & KordaMentha and Another (Sandy), BHP Billiton WAIO Pty Ltd (Graham), Morris Corporation (WA) Pty Ltd (Grey), Cannon Hill Services Pty Ltd (McKey), JSR JobSite Recruitment (Fontalvo Robles, Garcia), Apple Pty Ltd (Kairouz), Oakey Beef Exports Pty Ltd (Payne), Kajiks Showers & Robes Pty Ltd (Kaylock), Hzlo Pty Ltd (Funge), Sunco Motors Pty Ltd (Thomson), Norgrove Training Pty Ltd (Schulz).
August 1, 2016
An application for approval of the Trustee for Aware Unit Trusts T/As Australia Wide Asbestos Removal Encapsulation Pty Ltd and the CFMEU (Victorian Construction and General Division) Asbestos Removal Enterprise Agreement 2016-2018 (s.185 – Application for approval of a single-enterprise agreement) will be heard by Fair Work Commissioner Gregory in his Melbourne chambers.
July 29, 2016
Twenty-seven unfair dismissal claims will be evaluated by the Fair Work Commissioners today. The full list is: NRG Concepts Pty Ltd (Lauris), Victorian Building Authority (Stefanidis), Spotless Group Limited (Cross), Toll Ipec Pty Ltd (David), Cielo Publishing Pty Ltd (Paroz), Endless Solar Operations (Cole), DAMEC Counselling Service (Taouk-Saade), Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education (Lal), Raytheon Company Inc (Langcake), NAB (Bernacki), STA Travel Pty Ltd (Baron), Enfield Furniture (Wood), Wires and Pliers Electrical and Data (Angelowitsch), Bretcod Pty Ltd (Snowden), Cubbyhouse Childcare Australia (Diaz), Maitland St Dental (Hobby), McDonald’s Australia Limited (Nadir), Hylton Catering Management Pty Ltd (Esperal), Fortescue Metals Group (Summerfield), Comphire Pty Ltd (Sierra), Water Corproation (Bradford), Thiess Pty Limited (Garratt), Agri Labour Australia Pty Ltd (Fan), Grindle Services Pty Ltd (Seidenkranz), LJ Hooker Property Management Pty Ltd (Lessing), Limestone Coast Health Unit Trust (Paltridge), Flinders Port Holdings Pty Ltd (Iancu).
July 29, 2016
TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT – performance – ss.394, 400, 604 Fair Work Act 2009 – appeal – Full Bench – at first instance, Commission satisfied that dismissal harsh, unjust or unreasonable and order made to for reinstatement and to maintain continuity of service – permission to appeal granted [[2016] FWCFB 2661] – appellant raised seventeen grounds of appeal which respondent disputed – at the core of the dispute was whether there were errors in accordance with House v The King – respondent submitted that Commission correctly interpreted ‘valid reason’ in accordance with Selvachandran by requiring the reason for dismissal to be well founded, sound and defensible or just – meaning of ‘valid’ in Macquarie Dictionary distinguished from meaning in industrial relations context – Full Bench agreed with Northrop J – ‘just’ excluded as consideration in determining valid reason for dismissal – Commission erred in considering justness of reason for dismissal to guide him as to whether there was a valid reason – appellant posited that Commission failed to take into account a relevant consideration, that being, the existence of an industrial dispute raised by the CPSU concerning duties of the respondent – Commission found that the industrial dispute was relevant to considering whether the dismissal was unfair – based on such finding, obligations under the Australian Taxation Office Enterprise Agreement 2011 (ATO EA) were ignited – ATO EA prescribed that while dispute on foot, status quo to remain – as Commission found that dispute was a relevant consideration, Full Bench of the view that failure to cogitate ATO EA obligations was an error in accordance with House – Full Bench not required to consider every appealable error – based on aforementioned findings appeal upheld and original decision quashed – respondent position at ATO made redundant and transferred to new role – respondent submitted he was not qualified for new role – dispute arose as to respondent’s competency to perform role – respondent refused to perform new duties, thus dismissed for non-performance – respondent submitted that he did not have required skills or knowledge to undertake duties assigned to him – evidence before Full Bench established respondent did have requisite knowledge – failure to perform duties sound, defensible and well founded reason for dismissal – Full Bench further of the view that respondent adequately notified of reasons for dismissal – ss.387(d)-(f) of FW Act not relevant – respondent argued that appellant failed to consider medical condition when determining dismissal – Full Bench not persuaded a relevant matter – dismissal not harsh, unjust or unreasonable – application for unfair dismissal remedy dismissed – appeal upheld. Appeal by Commonwealth of Australia (Australian Taxation Office) t/a Australian Taxation Office against decision of Ryan C of 23 March 2016 [[2016] FWC 1844] Re: Shamir
July 29, 2016
ENTERPRISE AGREEMENTS – termination of agreement – ss.225, 604 Fair Work Act 2009 – appeal – Full Bench – at first instance the Commission concluded that the Griffin Coal (Maintenance) Collective Agreement 2012 should be terminated with effect from 10 July 2016 – agreement achieved its nominal expiry date on 26 April 2016 – a stay of the Commission’s decision was granted by consent, pending the determination of the appeal – grounds for appeal included the application of the public interest test, the application of the ‘appropriateness test’, asserted errors in the exercise of discretion, and natural justice considerations – Full Bench satisfied that permission to appeal should be granted – appeal raises a number of important issues including the manner in which this matter proceeded at first instance and whether this gave rise to natural justice considerations – appeal proceeded by way of a rehearing – application of public interest test – CEPU v Aurizon considered – Full Bench satisfied the Commission’s approach to public interest considerations was consistent with the requirements established by s.226(a) of FW Act – not satisfied the appellant demonstrated appealable error with respect to the Commission’s finding – application of ‘appropriateness test’ – decision at first instance must be taken as demonstrating consideration of the competing interests of Griffin Coal, the employees covered by the agreement and the interests of the appellant – not satisfied the Commission’s decision demonstrates error relative to the application of s.226(b) – errors in the exercise of discretion – not satisfied that the Commission failed to take into account relevant considerations – fair reading of the Commission’s decision confirms all of the material was taken into account in the context of the considerations required pursuant to s.226 – natural justice considerations – held appellant not denied the opportunity for a fair hearing – Full Bench satisfied the Commission examined all of the relevant factors required pursuant to s.226 of FW Act and this was undertaken in an equitable and fair manner – not satisfied the appellant identified appealable error in the exercise of the Commission’s discretion – permission to appeal granted – appeal itself dismissed. Appeal by ‘Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union’ known as the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU) against decision of Cloghan C of 9 June 2016 [[2016] FWCA 2312] Re: Griffin Coal Mining Company P/L
