Today’s Fair Work Commission combatants include: BGC Contracting Pty Ltd (Broad), Prahran Mission (Osborn), Specialist Diagnostic Services Pty Ltd (Moskou), Skilltech Pty Ltd (Ryan), GM Holden Ltd (Newbond), Qube Ports Pty Ltd (Alexander), D A Fire Services Pty Ltd (Loi), NBN Co Ltd (Venkatesan), Simpson Automotive (Dempster), Dust-A-Side Australia Pty Ltd (Cowley) and University of Queensland (Frijters).
October 6, 2015
TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT – performance – s.394 Fair Work Act 2009 – application for unfair dismissal remedy – applicant employed as restaurant manager – applicant dismissed for failure to perform mandatory weekly stocktakes and being late to work on numerous occasions, resulting in late opening of the restaurant – Commission considered evidentiary cases for both parties – evidence led by applicant was considered either unreliable, irrelevant or counter to her own evidence – applicant’s witnesses provided two contradictory statements – Commission considered evidentiary case for respondent compelling – evidence of respondent’s witnessed had none of the hallmarks of fabrication or concoction – satisfied on the evidence that the respondent had a sound, defensible and reasonable basis, thus a valid reason for dismissal – applicant not accorded procedural opportunities to defend her position – not notified of her dismissal in advance nor provided an opportunity to respond to conduct and performance issues – Commission did not consider that the result would have been different had the applicant been able to exercise her rights in relation to such procedural opportunities – applicant’s continuing employment had become and unsustainable proposition – Commission found dismissal not harsh, unjust or unreasonable – application dismissed. Rani v Limitless Ventures Toscas P/L t/a Toscanis Mackay
October 6, 2015
TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT – extension of time – s.394 Fair Work Act 2009 – application for relief from unfair dismissal – application made on 25 August 2015, seven days outside of the 21 day limit – reason for delay was the applicant only became aware of his termination after returning from overseas on 20 August 2015 – whether exceptional circumstances exist [Nulty] – two reasons why application not lodged until 25 August – firstly was the period to 20 August 2015 when the applicant returned to Australia – secondly was the period from 20 August 2015 to 25 August 2015 when the application was lodged – Makenja relevant to first period – Commission considered that the applicant’s circumstances, in that he was overseas until 20 August 2015 and not aware of dismissal, should be regarded as exceptional – regarding the second period, satisfied that on his return to Australia the applicant acted promptly in order to progress the application – Commission concluded that the applicant’s circumstances can be regarded as exceptional – time for lodgement extended – application referred for conciliation. Curzon v Trident Plastics (SA) P/L
October 6, 2015
The Australian Institute of Trade Pty Ltd is the star turn as it has to defend two s.394 unfair dismissal claims (Johar/Tandon) in the Fair Work Commission in Melbourne. Other attendees include: Total Beauty Network (Baker); Ferguson Group Pty Ltd (Gautam); Roads Corporation (Van Efferen); Konute Enterprises (Lama); Ensign Services (Australia) Pty Ltd (Babajee); Stone Echo Pty Ltd (Jones); Laurent Boulangerie Pty Ltd (Kang); Ryans Freighters Trust (Whitehill); Go Electrical Pty Ltd (Kyriakides); ABBE Corrugated Pty Ltd (Ly); Sydney International Container Terminals Pty Ltd (Clifford); Parmalat Australia Ltd (Parahi); Anfield Muirs Pty Ltd (Little); Woolworths Limited (Taito/Young); Print Warehouse (Kolozsi); Jensen Bowers Unit Trust (Tseng); TMM Group Pty Ltd (Ansell); Imagine That Photography Pty Ltd (Kaganovich); Kids Choice ELS WA Pty Ltd (Rolfe); Parmalat Food Products Pty Ltd (Tran); Veolia Environmental Services (Australia) Pty Ltd (Sherriff); and Transclean Facilities Pty Ltd (Anwar).
October 6, 2015
The downturn in the coal sector is making extraction companies the star turn at the Fair Work Commision. Helensburgh Coal Pty Ltd today faces seven unfair dismissal claims (Bondfield, Brophy, Duffy, Gilmore, Nixon, Webb and Wood).
October 5, 2015
The slowdown in the mining sector is manifested by the reappearance of Whitehaven Coal Mining Ltd in the Industrial Tribunal. Today it will defend four claims of unfair dismissal (Harris, Heath, Kingdom and Shephard). Other entities appearing in the Fair Work Commission today include: Vancouver Waste Services Pty Ltd (Head); Chevron Australia Pty Ltd (Hunter); Steggles Pty Ltd (Ponta); Doral Fused Materials Pty Ltd (Schmidt); Teys Australia Southern Pty Ltd (Chapman); Mink Fashion Pty Ltd (Geale); and Ausunion Property Investment Group Pty Ltd (Wang).
October 1, 2015
A man who was fired for a $23,000 phone bill was justifiably dismissed, the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) has ruled. The Mighty River Power employee racked up the charges on his work phone while on a three-week holiday in Sri Lanka earlier this year. The employee’s name is suppressed. “International roaming” charges made up $23,350 of the Spark bill, with just $6 spent on international calls and texts. Around 1.5GB of data was used. In New Zealand, a $29 plan would cover the same data usage. The data use was spread across a variety of apps, including iTunes, Facebook, Snapchat, Google, Amazon, Instagram, Gmail, Dropbox, and Akamai. Analysis showed the use was consistent rather than varied – suggesting it was due to “sync” usage rather than active internet browsing. When the employee returned to his job his boss confronted him about the charges, as well as the fact that he had returned a day later than expected, and had driven to work in a company car after only a few hours of sleep. He was dismissed and subsequently laid a complaint with the ERA. It could not be established that the man had received a warning text from Spark after $2486 of charges had been racked up. Spark noted the text message after Mighty River Power disputed the charges, but no proof of the text being sent could be found. It could be established that the man was generally aware of high charges for international data usage, and that he had received texts from Spark on entry to Australia and Sri Lanka warning him of the charges. The man also purchased a $5 sim card for his personal phone so he could make calls and texts while in the country. Whilst the ERA ruled that his dismissal was justified, the manner of the dismissal was ruled to have been unfair. The man was not given a fair chance to explain his bill, so the company was ordered to pay him $6000 in compensation for “loss of dignity and injury to his feelings”. The company’s counterclaim, which sought orders to make the man pay the bill himself, failed.
October 1, 2015
Principals Australia Institute will have its employment principles examined in the Fair Work Commission today, along with 23 other employers: Swan Hill Services Pty Ltd (Monck), AJM/Office Furniture Direct (Kiivas), James Cook University (Tibbey), Coca Cola Amatil (Aust) Pty Ltd (Pahnelas), National Training and Development (Flood), Green Home Green Planet Pty Ltd (Kanji), The Trust for Easy Unit Trust (Foster), Print Professionals Pty Ltd (Manolopoulos), Scope Vic (Evans), PFD (Meade), Transfield Services Sydney (Westrip/Wilson), Mt Cotton Constructions Pty Ltd (Cox), Rawdon Hill Constructions Pty Ltd (Castillo), Neil Hobbins Pty Limited (Green), Gradco Pty Ltd (Hipworth), Special Broadcasting Services Corporation (McIntyre), Mt Pleasant Stud Farm Pty Limited (McCormick), The Gardens Greyhound Racing Club Limited (Petrovski), Lenovo Professional Pty Ltd (Fartash), UAM Pty Ltd (Staynor), Quinns Rocks Sports Club Inc (Hikawai), Principals Australia Institute (Engelbrecht/Lewis-Appleck) and Antonelli Investments Pty Ltd (Smith).
