CASE PROCEDURES – appeals – failure to prosecute application – s.399, 587, 604 Fair Work Act 2009 – Full Bench – at first instance appellant was ordered to pay respondent costs – appellant failed to discontinue unfair dismissal remedy application after the settlement of claim and failed to comply with directions – appellant’s stay order was granted – Full Bench decided to dismiss appeal for want of prosecution as appellant failed to comply with directions and failed to attend without explanation – appellant’s application for permission to appeal lodged 40 days outside of requisite time period for filing an appeal – no appeal books or submissions were filed by requisite deadlines – no communication was received from the appellant despite numerous attempts made – Full Bench adopted principles in Peter Viavattene v Health Care Australia and Sullivan and General Steel Industries Inc v Commissioner for Railways (NSW) – noted a fair go all around is accorded to both parties – considered it would be unfair for respondent to incur further wasted costs and time – stay order revoked – appeal dismissed. Appeal by Raschilla against decision and order of Binet DP on 24 April 2017 and 14 June 2017 [[2017] FWC 1117andPR592084] Re: Ausino West P/L atf The Supercrane Unit Trust t/a Supercrane Engineered Lifting Technology
November 27, 2017
Twenty three unfair dismissal/contract employment disputes are listed for hearing this morning in the Fair Work Commission. The full list is: Mission Australia Early Learning (Jobber), Accucorp Pty Ltd (McGaw), Whitehaven Coal Mining Limited (Warren), Sydney International Container Terminals Pty Limited (Colwell), The GEO Group Australia Pty Ltd (Reihana, Reilly), Activated Group (Loves), PAC Perth Pty Ltd (Stoney), Activ Foundation (Waters), WhitayLee & Sons Pty Ltd (Dakin), Department of Immigration and Border Protection (Musco), Serco Australia Pty Ltd (Zhu), Bingo Bonanza Pty Ltd (Squires), Telstra (Daniels), Parks Victoria (Sansico), Barada Barna Aboriginal Corporation (Dargan, Roos), Emerald Refrigerated Logistics (Spencer), SG RW & TA Cormack (Swanson), BHP Coal Pty Ltd (Bolitho), Accredited Training Centre of Australia Pty Ltd (O’Neil), Playford City Soccer Community Club Inc (Shears), Centacare Catholic Country SA Limited (Stuart).
November 24, 2017
Twenty four unfair dismissal/labour dispute applications are lined up for hearing in the Fair Work Commission today. The full list is: BlueScope Steel (AIS) Pty Ltd (Troiano), WTH Pty Ltd (Herridge), Multiscore Industries (Aust) Pty Ltd (Hull), Complete Tyre Solutions (Fleet), XQ Chen Pty Ltd (Hoinville), Antipodeans (Guerrero Pachon), Australian Native Landscapes Pty Ltd (Hanrahan), Front-Line Resources Management Pty Ltd (Lambropoulos), Fresh Cheese Co (Aust) Pty Ltd (Condello), Complete Tyre Solutions (Fleet), The Camberwell Grammar School (Dai), Bendigo Kangan Institute (Hodgson), Patrick Projects Pty Ltd (Deeney & Hughes and Others), BMW Melbourne Pty Limited (Eagland), Langham Hotel Melbourne (Saetow), Pelican Childcare (Tavafao-Ale), The Salvation Army (Hiah), Barada Barna Aboriginal Corporation (Dargan, Roos), Youi Pty Ltd (Reynolds), D Cox & K Cox (Laine), National Australia Bank Limited (Ward), Jaktomat Pty Ltd (Westblad), Kone Elevators Pty Ltd (Mocanu).
November 23, 2017
Whilst it appears that there are thirty-three unfair dismissal/labour dispute applications listed for hearing by the Fair Work Commission today, one man (Sydenham) in NSW claims to have been dismissed by four employers simultaneously. The full list is: Astra Chauffered Limousines Australia Pty Ltd (Sydenham), Butlers Have Wheels (NSW) Pty Ltd (Sydenham), I’ve Got Staff on Time Pty Ltd (Sydenham), Merlino Property Investments Pty Ltd (Sydenham), Kel Whittaker Smash Repairs (O’Beirne), Southern Cross Crane Service Pty Limited (Simpson), Max Brenner Australia Pty Ltd (Hammon), Australian Academy of Commerce Pty Ltd (Izadfar), YJS (Qld) Pty Ltd & Salisbury (Buliga, Wilkinson), Activated Group (Loves), SGB Facility Services Pty Ltd (Thomas), Polite Enterprises Corporation Pty Ltd (Boticki), Collie River Valley Medical Centre (Leckie), Qantas Airways Limited (Chemello), Asciano Services Pty Ltd (Stevenage), Envision Employment Services (Natoli), Kmercial (Di Gioacchino), G Plus G Global Trading Pty Ltd (Lewis), South of Perth Yacht Club (Thompson), Solar Station Alpha Pty Ltd (von Erkel), Loddon Mallee Waste and Resource Recovery Group (West), Toll Transport Pty Ltd (Bliesner), Sibelco Australia QMAG (Ames), United Organics (Davis), Phoenix Fuel Systems (Schubring), Australian Child Career Options (Daley), IOT Group Australia Pty Ltd (Visser), Salena Estate Wines Pty Ltd (Dominelli), Suncorp Staff Pty Ltd (Martin), Baiada Poultry Australia (Trakas), Chandler MacLeod (Trakas), Decon Technologies (SA) Pty Limited (Haines).
November 23, 2017
Twenty-one labour dispute/unfair dismissal claims are listed for hearing in the Fair Work Commission today: Laureate Education Services Australia Pty Limited (Kulkarni), BlueScope Steel (AIS) Pty Ltd (Troiano), Primas Pty Ltd (Fernandez-Kennedy), Rivet Employees Operational Pty Ltd (Malcolm), Woolworths Limited (Hall), Little Moreton Pty Ltd (Rayner), DC Strategy Pty Ltd (Vacic), Overnewton Anglican Community College Limited (Fitzgerald), Pacific HVAC Engineering Pty Ltd (Xu), Origin Energy Resources Limited (Costelloe), Amber Aviation Academy Pty Ltd (Agarev), Boom Logistics Limited (Kerr), Superior Homes Qld Pty Ltd (Pennycuick), Camperagent RV Centre Adelaide Pty Ltd (Leo), Anglican Community Services (Natoli), Toll Transport Pty Ltd (Tomvald), Jones Lang Lasalle (Vic) P/L (Walker), GNZ Enterprises Pty Ltd (Gilani), Wahroonga Pty Ltd (Radovan), Lockin Pty Ltd (Ware).
November 22, 2017
The Fair Work Commission will process twenty four unfair dismissal/labour dispute applications today. The complete list is: Transgrid (Adsett), Condobolin RSL Club Ltd (Glen), BP Boggabri (Cronin), Tenterfield Care Centre Limited (Wait), Studio Ash Hair Pty Ltd (Garcia), Artisan Wine Storage Pty Ltd (Oldfield), Cathay Pacific Airways Limited (Salam), Front-Line Resources Management Pty Ltd (Lambropoulos), Innovative Hair Loss Solutions Pty Ltd & Innovative Partners Pty Ltd (Best), Meridian Communications (Hearity), King’s Transport Services (WA) & Sigma Healthcare (Al-Shabib), City of Greater Geelong (Duffield), Bendigo Kangan Institute (Hodgson), Solar Station Alpha Pty Ltd (von Erkel), Sodexo Remote Sites Australia Pty Ltd (Hallam), Barada Barna Aboriginal Corporation (Dargan, Roos), Bethell Flooring Pty Ltd (Howe), Macs Appliance Repair Service (Van Niekerk), Playford City Soccer and Community Club Inc (Shears), Intex Holdings (Brannan), Christopher Green Jewellers Pty Ltd (Wood-McGair), Go To Court Franchising Pty Ltd (Lewis), Charles Paletta Real Estate Pty Ltd (D’Ortenzio).
November 22, 2017
CASE PROCEDURES – apprehension of bias – s.604 Fair Work Act 2009 – appeal – Full Bench – appeal against Decision of single Member of Commission – Commission held that general dissatisfaction expressed by appellant with Member and Commission did not form basis upon which Member should recuse herself on grounds of apprehended bias – Commission found application made under s.365 FW Act was resolved and therefore refused to issue certificate – decision [[2017] FWC 4300] issued to that effect – at appeal, appellant argued that Commission erred in applying ss.365 and 368 FW Act and that Member should have recused herself – any hearing of an application for apprehended bias should be heard at earliest opportunity and before hearing of substantive matter [Parramatta Design] – Full Bench found Commission erred by determining application for recusal and substantive merits of case concurrently – test of apprehended bias requires decision-maker recuse self if a fair-minded lay observer might reasonably apprehend that the decision-maker might not bring an impartial mind to the resolution of the question [Ebner] – Full Bench found Commission consistently misstated test for apprehended bias and therefore fell into appealable error – Full Bench also found that by holding a conference and subsequently issuing a decision in relation to the substantive matter, Commission erred on jurisdictional grounds as s.368 FW Act does not empower Commission to make findings on substantive matter [Hewitt relevant] – permission to appeal granted – appeal upheld – decision of Member quashed – matter referred to Kovacic DP to determine matter. Appeal by Hunter against Decision of Hunt C of 14 September 2017 [[2017] FWC 4300] Re: Anthony Costello Automotive
November 22, 2017
MODERN AWARDS – variation – ss.160, 163 Fair Work Act 2009 – Full Bench – application by Australian Southern Bluefin Tuna (SBT) Industry Association Ltd (ASBTIAL) for variations to Ports, Harbours and Enclosed Water Vessels Award 2010 (Ports Award) – variations sought included inserting new definition of ‘Wild Catch Fishing Industry’ (WCFI), inserting new clause 4.7 to exclude coverage of employees in WCFI, and to renumber existing clauses following insertion of new clause – ASBTIAL submitted that WCFI traditionally award-free and that stages 2 and 4 of award modernisation process confirmed that award-free status of WCFI should be retained – Full Bench considered whether Ports Award covered WCFI – Full Bench determined that on its face, the coverage clause in Ports Award could encompass employers and employees in WCFI as employers in the industry operated vessels both within Australian coastline and at sea – however, Full Bench considered analysis of award history and determined that, to extent the Ports Award did purport to cover WCFI, it reflected an error that was amenable to correction under s.160 FW Act – Full Bench held that s.163 FW Act did not prevent it from varying an award to stop employees from being covered by it in circumstances where they became covered in error – Full Bench inclined to make variations sought by ASBTIAL – granted interested parties four weeks from date of decision to make any submissions in relation to this course of action. Australian Southern Bluefin Tuna (SBT) Industry Association Ltd
