ANTI-BULLYING – costs – s.789FC Fair Work Act 2009 – application for costs against respondents – appellant submitted that stop bullying applications made against her were vexatious, made without reasonable cause and that each respondent should have been aware that their application had no reasonable prospect of success – sought costs related to legal advice received – respondents noted that appellant was seeking to recover costs that had already been covered by the employer – anti-bullying applications relied on fact that appellant had made ‘bullying complaint’ against each respondent – remainder of alleged incidents of bullying related to actions by employer and their handling of complaint – respondents discontinued applications upon receiving what they ‘mostly sought’ from employer – Commission found that appellant had no control over the investigation which followed the complaint – found that purpose of the applications was to discourage appellant from making any future complaint against respondents – satisfied that respondents did seek ‘collateral advantage’ in making their applications of the type referred to in Carter – satisfied that applications made vexatiously – found that Mr Dixon and Mr Jewell did not demonstrate that appellant had engaged in any repeated bullying behaviour – Ms Sherlock identified some conduct of appellant which raised some basis for her application – satisfied that Mr Dixon and Mr Jewell should have known that their applications were made without reasonable cause – costs considered – presumption that each party will bear its own legal costs – found that appellant accepted offer of $5000 from employer towards legal costs with no obligation to repay – applications for costs dismissed. King v Jewell and Ors
May 17, 2018
Forty-eight unfair dismissal/labour dispute applications are queued in the Fair Work Commission. The full list is: Sunstate Airlines (Qld) Pty Ltd (Cook), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (Hirst), Apple Pty Ltd (Niven), Bank of Queensland Limited (Greene), Woolworths Group (Chandler), CreditorWatch Pty Ltd (Booker), Anwar Alesi (Buenaobra), Spinifex Australia Pty Ltd (Tait), Southern Cross Veternity Clinic (Williams), Beautopia Hair & Beauty Pty Limited (Reid), Telstra Retail (Valenzuela), Serco (Carroll), Komatsu Australia Pty Ltd (Newton), Local Trades Specialists Group Pty Ltd (Cardy), Bernini Stone & Tiles Pty Ltd (Leon), Boyds Realty (Fitzgerald), Coles Supermarkets (Fragale), Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority (Rennie & Fraser and Others), Australian International Academy of Education Inc (Awari), Victoria University & Clark (Griffin), Port Phillip City Council (Bisset), Complete Welding International Unit Trust (Miribyan), Flinders University Health Service (Shippey), ABC Transport (Stepanovich), MAT Finance Pty Ltd (Beall), Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty Ltd (Culbertson), Shoreline Caravan Park (Barone), Department of Human Services (O’Connell), Cavco Earthworks (Scamans), AGC Meisei Joint Venture (Bevan), Gelatissimo (Smith), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (Hirst), AM Group (Gallant), Vantage Systems (Keramidas), Toll Transport Pty Ltd (Jok Ajak), Longwarry Food Park Pty Ltd (McDonald), Anglicare Victoria (Karner), Infosys Technologies Pty Ltd (Sriam), Mornington Peninsula Shire Council (Keeley), The University of Western Australia (McKitrick), City of Stirling (Emery), Flight Attendants Association of Australia National Division (Staniforth). Ikon Services Australia Pty Ltd (Ha), Southern Fresh Australia (Joseph), Senator Brian Burston (Kelly), Australian Government Department of Human Services (Gadzikwa). Thomas Foods International Murray Bridge Pty Lt (Ball).
May 16, 2018
A mere thirty-four unfair dismissal/labour dispute applicants are lined up for hearing in the Fair Work Commission today. The full list is: Metropolitan Taxi Club Inc (Ninon), Spotless (Rosewarne), Skilling Australia Foundation Limited (Cowdroy-Ling), Taylors Business Pty Ltd (Fernandopulle), Bernini Stone & Tiles Pty Ltd (Leon), Sydney Trains (Mullally), National Australia Bank Limited (Chan), Australian Pharmaceutical Industries Limited (Yazgan), Furla Australia Pty Ltd (Fang), Red Sparrow Tea Company Pty Ltd (Paul), Mission Australia Housing (Handique), WeDrive Pty Ltd (Flageul), Communities @ Work Limited (Gulia), Estia Investments Pty Ltd (Walker), Southern Cross Protection Pty Ltd (Singh), The Aussie Inn (Tregoning), Grand Hotel (Brown), Australia for UNHCR (Tamu), Morrow Equipment Co (Anderson), Booth Transport Pty Ltd (Braxton), Gold Coast Hospitality Services Pty Ltd (Ozturn), Teys Australia Management Pty Ltd (Hunt), Total Fire Solutions (Aust) Pty Limited (Johnson), AMN Challenge Pty Ltd (Wilson), Mr P J & Mrs G J Prince (Patterson), Queensland Rail Limited (Wedemeyer), BS Lewis Investments Pty Ltd (McCormick), Townsville Aboriginal & Islander Health Service (Hussey), Century 21 Australia Pty Ltd (Drescher), University of Western Australia (Maher), Alice Springs Town Council (Fitzsimmons), Mornington Peninsula Shire (Kroeger), Australia Taxation Office (McElholum), Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (Sadler).
May 15, 2018
TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT – misconduct – s.394 Fair Work Act 2009 – application for unfair dismissal remedy – applicant dismissed for misconduct based on failure to carry out lawful and reasonable direction – respondent alleged applicant was making payments to phantom employees – other allegations of deceit, theft and fraudulent manipulation of profit and loss data – respondent unable to substantiate allegations at hearing – Commission found applicant to be not guilty of misconduct – found dismissal to be harsh, unjust and unreasonable – ordered compensation of $13,080 taxed according to law. Ward v TRG Administration P/L t/a The River Group
May 15, 2018
TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT – valid reason – conditions of employment – s.394 Fair Work Act 2009 – application for unfair dismissal – respondent revised terms of employment and extended work hours – applicant sought amendment by consent which respondent rejected – applicant refused to sign new contract – respondent terminated employment – Commission found no valid reason for termination – no defensible explanation for why the respondent could not accommodate the applicant’s request – found dismissal was harsh and unjust – Commission ordered compensation of $22,882. Knutson v Chesson P/L t/a Pay Per Click
May 15, 2018
Family and Domestic Violence Leave Clause MODERN AWARDS – 4 yearly review – model term – s.156 Fair Work Act 2009 – Full Bench – in a decision issued on 26 March 2018 [[2018] FWCFB 1691] a Full Bench confirmed that all employees should have access to unpaid family and domestic violence leave – content of model term discussed at conferences – Full Bench decided to provide five days’ unpaid leave per annum to all employees (including casuals) experiencing family and domestic violence – interested parties invited to comment on draft model term.
May 15, 2018
Family Friendly Work Arrangements MODERN AWARDS – 4 yearly review – model term – s.156 Fair Work Act 2009 – Full Bench – in a Decision issued 26 March 2018 [[2018] FWCFB 1692], a Full Bench rejected the ACTU’s claim seeking a variation of all modern awards to include an entitlement to part-time work or reduced hours for employees with parenting or caring responsibilities – Full Bench expressed a provisional view that modern awards should be varied to incorporate a model term to facilitate flexible working arrangements – interested parties invited to comment on provisional model term.
May 11, 2018
30 unfair dismissal/labour dispute applications are lined up for hearing in the Fair Work Commission. The full list is: Mt Arthur Coal Pty Limited (Williams), Wonson Frame and Trusses (Mugridge), Mibus Bros Pty Ltd (Duncan), Tenterfield Care Centre Limited (Wait), Allianz Australia Services Pty Limited (Sindas), Michael Page International (Australia) Pty Limited (Sarabi), Western Sydney University (Darjazini), Gucci Australia Pty Ltd (Theodorakis), Metres Down Under Pty Ltd (Mafa), Meyer Shircore & Associates Pty Ltd (Chin), Leskes Jewellers (Williamson), Australian Hearing and Balance Centre (Bailey), Australian Handrails Pty Ltd (Galanopoulos), City of Melbourne (Maiolo), Monash University (Meaney), Central Cleaning Supplies (Perez), BKV Aged Care (Hill), Peter Ferne Management Pty Ltd (Shannon), City of Kingston (Ayres), SMSF Advisers Network (Pal), Western Sydney University (Darjazini), The Commonwealth of Australia (Kildea), Cav Bus Pty Ltd (Belsham), Serco Australia Pty Ltd (McConnell), Gold Coast Hospitality Services Pty Ltd (Ozturk), McFarlane (Gardner), Advertiser Newspaper Pty Limited (Lee, Smith), Australian Electoral Commission (Nemcic), Flamestop Australia (Wohar), TNT Australia Pty Ltd (Jones).
