The Full Bench of the Fair Work Commission this week held that an employee was unfairly dismissed for refusing to follow the employee’s direction to log in and out of work using a fingerprint scanner, on the grounds that this was not a ‘valid reason’ for dismissal. Typically, employers are able to dismiss an employee…
Author: Brian Powles
Brian is an accredited specialist in employment and industrial relations law, who is partner of a successful boutique Sydney law firm. He also hosts the Working Knowledge podcast.
Fake News: Who are the real victims of political misinformation?
In the era of fake news, modern society has never seen such high levels of political misinformation. Whether it has been the Brexiteers‘ guarantees of improbable prosperity for an independent Britain, or Donald Trump’s recent promises to “make America great again”, lazy and untested rhetorical concepts appear to have high political capital. Anyone seeking to…
Four Tips for Employers: Managing the Dreaded ‘Sickie’ Over the Easter Period
Published 15 April 2019 Chucking a ‘sickie’ is considered by some to be a great Australian past time. However, sickies can be an absolute nightmare for employers, especially small business owners who struggle to replace staff at short notice. There is a well-documented spike in the use of sick leave around public holidays and with…
Unnecessary and unconstitutional? The Practical and Legal Problems With the Criminalisation of Wage Theft
The deliberate underpayment of employee entitlements, such as wages, is not currently a criminal offence in Australia (despite the misleading use of the term by some). However, that is about to change with the Victorian Labor Government pledging to criminalise “wage theft” and the NSW Labor Opposition Party also committing to do the same should…
Why employment needs rules: Recent stories from Sport
The employment relationship is one of contract. Without a contract, there can be no employment. However, society has long recognised a need for more than merely a contract to govern the employment relationship. We need rules. A very clear example of this is a comparison between the NRL and the NFL – particularly in the…
Family and Domestic Violence Leave – Practical Considerations of the new National Employment Standard
Published 28 February 2019 In December 2018, the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FW Act) was amended to insert a new entitlement in the National Employment Standards (NES) being five days of unpaid family and domestic violence leave. The new entitlement extends the decision of the Fair Work Commission in March 2018 to grant five…