Published 22 January 2017 Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (New South Wales Branch) v South Western Sydney Local Health District [2016] NSWIRComm 1047 A recent case in the Industrial Relations Commission of New South Wales has found that employers have the right to allocate and arrange work for employees and require employees to respond…
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.
Uber acted reasonably in deactivating the account of a dangerous driver
Published 7 January 2017 The District Court of Western Australia rejected a claim of $500,000 in damages from an Uber driver, finding Uber acted reasonably in deactivating the driver’s account after passengers had complained that they felt unsafe, reporting the driver crossed the centre line of the road and almost fell asleep. Raiser Operations BV…
Employee awarded $477,400 plus interest after his employer failed to uphold an oral agreement
Published 7 January 2017 Stevens v Spotless Management Services Pty Ltd [2016] VSCA 299 A chief information officer was awarded $477,400 plus interest after the Victorian Court of Appeal found there existed an oral agreement that specified his entitlements, and his employer failed to uphold this agreement. Mr Stevens claimed he was owed $477,400 as…
Employee who left work due to a panic attack was unfairly dismissed
Published 7 January 2017 The Fair Work Commission found an employee was unfairly dismissed after the employer mistakenly mistook his leaving work due to a panic attack as resignation. However the employee was only awarded two weeks’ pay in compensation as the employment relationship was strained and unlikely to continue for much longer. Mr A…
Performance reviews: a meaningful process or a waste of time?
Published 13 December 2016 Proactive businesses will have now turned their focus to planning for 2017 and looking for ways to improve on this year’s performance. However, what many businesses fail to turn their minds to is reviewing the performance of their employees, whether it be because it is an uncomfortable and sometimes awkward process…
Court found an ‘all-inclusive rate’ of pay may include award entitlements if clearly expressed
Published 5 December 2016 The employment contract of a former employee did not prevent her from claiming payments for additional hours worked because the contract failed to clearly express which entitlements were included in her annual salary. Ms Stewart was employed by Next Residential Pty Ltd (Next Residential) as an administration coordinator with an annual…